Photo alterations have always been around and have gotten more and more popular as technology rises. Ethically altering photos is undeniably wrong, the reason being that it's deceitful and defiantly a straight up lie coming from the photographer. People will often look at these photos and expect the truth but sometimes the photo is alter in order to exaggerated the message because the photographer is hoping that he/she will more easily get the point they wanted across and have it more easily received. Or maybe the original photo just doesn't contain the message the photographer wanted. It could also solely be to gain fame and fortune. Sometimes though its really hard to understand why. In the article Photojournalism in the Age of Scrutiny it is stated that SND and National Press Photographers' Association are both trying very hard to raise the standards of ethical decision-making in the practice of visual journalism, but it's not an issue that will easily be wiped away
Sometimes, I'm not sure all the blame can be put on just the photographers, because we as consumers often claim we want the truth, but in reality we demand more because deep down we know the truth can at times be boring to us, or maybe our expectations are always to high or something needs to be really big, in terms of shock and awe, in order to grab our attention. In the case of photos that contain people, there are many out there that are superficial and shallow at want to see someone that is flawless, or if the aim is for the opposite effect, which is to show people in despair or harsh environments, photos are edited to make the people look more unpleasant.
Sometimes, I'm not sure all the blame can be put on just the photographers, because we as consumers often claim we want the truth, but in reality we demand more because deep down we know the truth can at times be boring to us, or maybe our expectations are always to high or something needs to be really big, in terms of shock and awe, in order to grab our attention. In the case of photos that contain people, there are many out there that are superficial and shallow at want to see someone that is flawless, or if the aim is for the opposite effect, which is to show people in despair or harsh environments, photos are edited to make the people look more unpleasant.
Photographs were once the medium to provide evidence for the truth. Although there is an artistic side to photography that should never be lost the main objective of these photo journalist should be to visually tell consumers about the news, and that should always come first. Photographs are always taken with a grain of salt nowadays. Even big name companies with some credibility have been caught with altered photos, eg. New York Times and CBS news. People are more aware of what they are looking at and what to believe. This is also a bad thing because it causes confusion and uncertainty, and now people don't really care and therefore truthful photographers out there may, more often than not be mistakenly ignored or questioned too.
Sources:
Kenneth Irby . “Photojournalism in the Age of Scrutiny.” PoynterOnline. Sep. 15, 2006.
< http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=110342>.
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