Ethical Ramifications In Photo Manipulation example essay topic

Most people can still remember the days when term papers were typed using typewriters, and finding the slightest bit of info meant going to the bookstore or library and looking it up. With modern advances in technology the world has seen drastic changes in society, and most just within the last decade. From TV's to computers, from record players to CD changers, from cameras to camcorders, just to mention a few; old ways have been taken over by newer, faster, and more efficient technological means. However with so much capability at hand, the power and ability to do these tasks better, also allows for misuse. In the several different ways technology has sparked questions of ethics in today's world.

This paper will reflect on the visual aspects of media, and the various implications technology has had on them. Most of today's mass communication relies heavily on visual images. From transmitting scenes of epidemics from around the world to magazine articles on restaurants of other counties, all of these mediums use visual images to convey their messages. Through the use of various media photographs most of today's citizens have, metaphorically speaking, been around the world and back!

SS seeing!" different cultures and place across the globe in pictures. Making these images as appealing as possible most photographers feel that they must adjust the composition as well as the exposure to best please the eye. This was not a problem throughout the majority of photographic history; simply taking pictures that best fit the story. However with the latest advances in technology, digital cameras have made taking photos much easier, in fact too easy. Many early photographers had to rely on certain skills to ascertain the correct elements needed for a good photo; focus, composition, exposure, lighting, etc. With today's automatic cameras commodities like autofocus take some of those elements away from the photographer.

Also techniques in photo manipulation have become possible. Using computers to move certain elements of the photo around and adjusting exposure has become a simple task just one click away. With these two mediums photo manipulation can be determined as an unethical practice, which can lead to intentions of false portrayal in photographs. One of the latest scenes to hit the market is the digital camera. Probably one of the major advantages to the digital camera is the increased amount of photos that can be taken. Using special electronic mini-disks, up to 70 pictures can be taken at once.

The photographer can also erase other images stored that he / she doesn! |t like or doesn! |t intend to use - just seconds after he's taken the photo. This outlook on digital camera technology has opened new realms and possibilities for the average business.! SS Today a mobile service engineer who needs help can send a picture of his problem in seconds to an expert who may be anywhere in the world. So can the police and other emergency services. So can any business that wants to distribute last minute picture information-perhaps on Internet or just a quick picture by fax. !" This ability can hardly be argued against, but with so much computer help much controversy has sparked that digital assistance has destroyed much skill needed in the photojournalism profession.

Other techniques, which are useful in sport photos especially, some cameras can now allow the photographer to record a short! SS movie!" or clip of the photograph they want to take. After the recording, they find the appropriate frame to use, and at the press of a button- delete the rest. This is often used in football plays or other action shots. This technique completely destroys any skill required for the timing aspect of photography. The photographer can simply point the camera at what ever looks appealing and later ascertain the frame to use as a photo.

Such power is questionable, and makes one wonder how much more advanced will cameras become before skilled photography is a thing of the past. Probably more of a problem than just taking the picture, is what one does after the picture is taken. Computers have allowed people to do many tasks faster and better. Editing stories or essays on computers is a common practice, perfecting it before a hard copy on paper is ever seen. However, many ethical questions arise when this is taken to new levels, and photos become the medium of manipulation. The task of editing a photograph using computers is a vast industry used from advertising to movie making.

But when used in the journalistic field, how far does manipulation go before it's considered unethical? With such deception in the photographs, new meaning comes to the phrase photographs never lie. Because of these advances, much of society questions media accuracy and often questions its credibility. Photo manipulation can be separated into two sections: exposure and composition. Exposure deals with tones, shadows, and highlights - and composition deals with individual elements of a photo and their placement.

Exposure is commonly altered to increase visual attraction of a photograph. A picture with good tonal values and contrast offers the most appealing image. Though when the exposure is changed to make a person to look more beautiful (or ugly) questions are raised regarding ethical ramifications. Most would say it is ethical, and would admit that is done on a daily basis on several magazine covers. However this did become an issue on June 27, 1994 when Time Magazine ran a frond page photo of O.J. Simpson's mug shot which had been intentionally darkened. No other aspects of the photo had been changed or altered in any other way.

Though many complaints were made that the photo attempted to convey the message that Simpson had! SS sinister!" character. Some also claimed that it portrayed a raciest message as well. Going into the heart of the O.J. Simpson trial, whose defense relied on an argument of racism, this type of manipulation would spark much controversy. In response to the outcry James R. Gaines Managing Editor of Time Magazine stated, ! SSI have looked at thousands of covers over the years and chosen hundreds.

I have never been so wrong about how one would be received! K One could argue that it is racist to say that blacker is more sinister, and some African Americans have taken that position in the course of this dispute, but that does not excuse insensitivity. To the extent that this caused offense to anyone, I deeply regret it. !" The photo was considered unethical, however, what about the numerous publications, such as Glamour and YM, that alter exposure for increased attraction. Several magazines soften images of women to make them look more attractive. At times even such techniques as using a fan to blow the model's hair around has been used, though this is still considered ethical.

The main line is drawn and separated when it comes to Features and News articles. News photos are generally considered! SS set in stone!" , with no room for manipulation that is acceptable. Photo illustrations are a common practice in which using several photo elements, a new image is created to portray a certain message. These are usually very obvious and are not generally deceiving.

Graphic Illustrations, as defined by Kenneth Kobre in Photojournalism the Professionals' Approach! SS! Kis the blend of an advertising technique of an advertising photographer and photojournalist. This creates the editorial photo illustration.

These illustrations came about when newspapers and magazines decided to create images to relate certain experiences of the past and present and possibly future to their audiences. !" Exposure is, in this sense, no longer a major issue, but rather compositional photo manipulation is; the art of redefining the elements which make up a photograph to either portray a certain message, or for overall maximizing visual stimulation. This can be achieved in several ways, mostly done using computers. The first compositional alteration is the technique of cropping. Cropping is when a photograph is cut in a certain manner, usually repositioning the entire photograph. It is often done to remove distracting elements of a photograph, though cropping usually doesn! |t suffer from many ethical issues.

However, if a publication were to focus in on a particular aspect of a photograph, leaving out important portions, the question of ethics would no doubt be tested. Other forms of photo manipulation which include photo illustrations, is combining several photographs. Taking elements of various photographs and combining them in an arrangement of just one image. This is done mostly with advertisements, especially ones where objects are set in incorrect ratios. For example an advertisement of a man walking across a giant computer keyboard uses a picture of a man, which is cut out electronically, and scaled down. Then taking the keyboard picture and carefully positioning it beneath the man.

In journalistic publications, this technique was only utilized in only a few instances. National Geographic's cover of the pyramids of Egypt that are shown close together in the same shot (which was done by shortening the distance between the two pyramids). They ran into the problem of displaying both pyramids in the same picture. Though because of the immense distance, both pyramids could not be photographed in a vertical shot, and maintaining a suitable size for the cover. So in a breakthrough in photo manipulation National Geographic simply deleted the distance between them, bringing the pyramids next to each other.

This brought many ethical questions as to whether or not this type of alteration should be allowed. The portrayal of the photograph did not change, and it's intent was not to deceive, though many critics still believe that photos should always represent the truth of what they are. Other is example is Newsday's cover on Feb 16, 1994 which has Tonya Harding skating with Nancy Kerrigan in the same shot, which they did not do. Two different pictures were used which the body of one was cut and copied to the other picture. Ethical ramifications reflected upon this incident were not as harsh as most had expected. The message that was meant to be conveyed was not one of deception, and the story could be argued as more of a features style than of a news format.

Still, this made various questions as to what ethical was, and with so much new technology many new controversies arise questioning what is! SS right!" in journalistic media. Ethics has always been a major issue in journalism, raising questions not only to its credibility and accuracy, but to its objectivity in issues surrounding the media. These issues were discussed in one major meeting from the Poynter Institute of Media Studies, which held a Wither Conference in 1991.

The main subject discussed was of digital alterations of photography. Tony Kelly, a free-lance writer who wrote for Editor & Publisher, used the phrase! SS slippery slope!" to describe ethics in photo alteration. Slippery Slope is the idea that once you start doing something (possibly unethical) that you will inevitably! SS slip!" further and further into producing unethical work on a more common basis.! SS!

The erosion of news photo credibility began long ago with such devices as the airbrush and the X-acto knife, not to mention heavy darkroom work. !" Because of its common practice, when the use of technology arose, the media just slipped further into producing unethical work, taking advantage of computers as a source of manipulating photos.! S SAs the conference proceeded, however, it became clear that many! yen traditional photo manipulations or alterations were just as ethically unacceptable but had slid into practice over time because nobody had sounded an alarm!" With this, many journalistic publications continue to manipulate photos for many different purposes. A few examples include National Geographic's electronically stretching a man's towel so to cover the athlete's body for a photo, and The Orange County Register zipping up a boy's fly via computer so not to embarrass the photographed boy. Though, these examples were considered minor and did not raise major issues, however, they did indicate Kelly's theory of sliding further down. Even worse than just being subjected to photographs, digital technology has allowed!

SS Forrest Gump!" type manipulation that could be used in TV news broad casts. Don E. Tomlinson of Protocol magazine said, ! SS The effect of digitexed news pictures on libel is that such digitexing, where allegedly resulting in falsity and defamation, could bring forward a whole new basis for litigating!" Tomlinson stressed that it is important to maintain photographic reality. With Tomlinson's ideas, the Poynter conference attempted to conclude that the justifications for image manipulation were for photo art (feature pages only), and the image had to look manipulated to the reader so that no written explanation would be necessary. Alterations of news photos were out of the question. Still there were several cases in which photo manipulation was thought to be necessary in news publications.

Especially ones that deal with naked bodies and embarrassing shots. Dealing with this issue directly, the USA Today faced a certain predicament, though it holds strong beliefs toward photo alteration, and is very much against it. On December 15, 1992, the paper published a photo of a woman in Mogadishu, Somalia with no cloths on the top half of her body, wielding a knife against nine clothed men around her. It appears that the men are shouting at her; the cut line states that this is a mob attack and the woman is defending herself. USA Today thought the nudity in the photo was not a problem, because it was third would country. Yet the response to the picture was astounding.

USA Today, still believed the breast issue was not the problem, They said that cropping the photo or blocking the breasts with a black line would make the picture become pornographic. It is in these ways that photo manipulation attempts to deceive people. The true meaning of the photograph should be left to state exactly of what it was taken. Many question have risen as to where exactly was the fine line between altering a photo and just simply fixing it up a bit. The Poynter Conference was a major break though in ethical ramifications in photo manipulation, stating that manipulation should not, to any degree, be subjected to news stories or news publications with the intent to inform of an incident. Technology has granted many inventions, ranging from computers to digital cameras.

But this use of these items distorts the accuracy in many publications photographically, and should not be utilized to major extents in the area of news publications.

Bibliography

Bailey, Sandra and Susan Connors. "Image Control and the Photo Editor". Media Ethics. Fall 6 (1993): 12-13 Gaines, James R.
SS Time Magazine!" Managing Editor Vol. 143 No. 26 Cover June 27, 1994 Hick, Wilson! S SWords and Pictures;
introduction to photojournalism!" New York, Harper Kelly, Tony. "Manipulating Reality". Editor & Publisher (8 June 1991): 16-17.
Kobre, Kenneth. Photojournalism Boston: Focal Press, 1996.
Mary Martinez, ! SS Advantages of the Digital Camera!" Customer service director of Digital Camera Company " SS 1999 Tomlinson, Don E.
Legal and Ethical Ramifications of Computer-Assisted Photograph Manipulation". Protocol. July 1991: 4-5.