When I entered the photography profession “Seeing Was Believing.” If there was a visual record of something, then it really happened. Photos were much more important records of events than just words. A still image might not provide an accurate, overall understanding of a particular event, but at least it was an accurate rendition of a moment in time.
No more!
Photoshop has made it easy for anyone to manipulate images. It is often difficult for anyone, other than a technology expert, to determine or recognize the manipulation. The average viewer has no way of knowing if the photo they are viewing is real or fiction.
Last week I visited the fantastic National Geographic “Encounter, Ocean Odyssey” exhibit in New York City. As might be expected from National Geographic there were many amazing visuals. I know the extent that Geographic photographers go to in order to record real events that happen in nature, and the extent they go to not to “fake” a situation.
If I were going to believe that any event had really occurred, it would be a photograph taken by a National Geographic photographer. As a photographer one of the things I’m always thinking about when I go to a Nat Geo exhibit is “How did they get that shot?”
There was one shot in this exhibit that showed a whale chasing a squid. At the climax there was a full screen shot where the whale’s open mouth appears to swallow the squid, camera and the viewer. My reaction was “How did they get that shot?” I couldn’t believe that Nat Geo would be showing viewers something that wasn’t an actual photograph of a “real event.”
My 12-year-old grandson answered my question immediately, “It’s CGI.” It’s only entertainment. Young people don’t expect anything to be real anymore.
I checked with the exhibit administrator. He confirmed that it was CGI. How much of the rest of the exhibit was CGI? I have no idea. What is the world under water really like? I’m not sure what, if anything I learned from the exhibit. But, I was entertained.
Truth Online
In July there appeared to be a mass movement called the #WalkAway campaign that shared memes who purportedly testified to “walking away” from the Democratic Party. This social media hashtag #WalkAway was characterized as an answer to the “blue wave.”
However, it turned out that many of the pictures of people who supposedly were walking away were actually stock photos acquired from Shutterstock. Is your stock photo promoting something you, or the subject of your photograph, really believe in and support, or is it promoting the direct opposite?
Twitter tracking tool Hamilton68 had recorded Russian bots and trolls helping to amplify the #WalkAway hashtag.
#WalkAway memes employing stock photographic images have been shared by at least one prominent conservative figure: Ginni Thomas, an attorney who contributes to the conservative Daily Caller website and is married to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
There is little actual evidence to suggest that #WalkAway represents a mass conversion of millions -- or even thousands -- of Democrats to Team Trump. However, in today’s “Fake News” world, anyone – right up to the President of the United States – is free to say anything they want about anyone or anything, and use anyone’s picture however they choose.
It won’t be long before any face found online, can be easily attached to any body – in either a still or a video – and presented as supporting or opposing anything.
Truth In Tourism
This
story tells of how the Maharashtra Tourism Department Corporation (MTDC) in India is using fake pictures to promote local tourism.
While some of the pictures had been photo shopped with local destinations, in many others, the places shown are not even from Maharashtra. Oh, well, its India and none of us are probably ever going to go there anyway.
The whole idea that a photograph should provide some degree of truth is dying fast, if it is not already dead.