Ethics of Photography Manipulation

I've been thinking about the ethics of photography manipulation a lot lately (I recently did a research report on it, and I'm in the process of writing an essay on it as well.) This thought just ran though my brain:

A fiction novel can reflect aspects of truth of human life. Just because the events in the book never happened doesn't mean the messages that book carries aren't valid. The point of a fiction novel is that the story could happen, that those messages within the book are real and the book is merely a manifestation of those messages.

However, it would be morally corrupt to write a fiction novel and sell it as an biography. That would make it a lie.

So, as I ponder my stance on photo manipulation in the media and such, I find myself at the conclusion that manipulating a photograph can be okay. Just because the photo is no longer a realistic representation of a brief moment in time that did exist, does not make it non-credible. The manipulated scene is now a fictitious scene, but it can still speak wonders of the truth and complexities of human life, because the scene depicted could have happened.

However, it would be morally corrupt to manipulate a photo and to pass it as non-edited. That would make it a lie.

Just as a book can be read as fiction, a photo can be read as an artistic rendering. It is when we pass fables as facts that we have a skewed vision of reality.

If a photo is manipulated to further an argument, (which can be very effective,) a clause should be posted warning the viewer that the photo should not be interpreted literally.

Everything has its place in the world, and fiction and fact should never be confused.

Ethics in Image Manipulation

Photography was invented in 1814 and the reason it became such a popular success was because of it’s accuracy and ability to showcase the world in such a realistic way- a way that was far more realistic than any professional painter or artist could ever create. For this reason, photography was well praised and highly regarded for its capability to reveal reality and truth. However, the history of photo manipulation dates back to the 1860’s.

I would say that this is a fairly famous picture of Abraham Lincoln that we've all seen before. This picture is also famous for being known as the first manipulated photograph. In actuality, Lincoln never posed for this portrait at all. The body belongs to John Calhoun, and Lincoln’s face is originally from a portrait taken by Mathew Brady. The history behind why this manipulation was created is unknown, but the effects this photo has caused are well… history. Ever since, the ethics of editing photographs have been questioned. Is editing a face onto a body any different than editing out a few stray hairs or taking out a blemish? Where does the metaphorical line fall? 

There are no hard and set rules to the boundaries of editing, but it socially acceptable to consider the line “crossed” when the manipulation was done with intention to deceive the viewer. Editing a stray hair out of a person’s face is okay because its still a fair representation of that person’s appearance, whether she had a fly-away hair or not, she is still the same recognizable person. Editing someone’s weight however, might make them harder to recognize, and is not an accurate portrayal of that person’s appearance. Ad companies get busted for editing their models weights, body structure and appearance all the time, and the reason their editing is such a problem is because they issue no clause that their photos were ever edited. They sell us a sub-reality that doesn’t exist. And the worst part? When we don’t know what we’re given is actually a lie, we buy right into it. So, here I insert my clause: the following photos have been photoshopped extensively, in fact, they have been overly-photoshopped to illustrate my point. But, now that you know their reality, you can make up your own mind…

"Intent to deceive the viewer..."

This is a photo I took back in April of a girl named Courtney. She has beautiful blonde hair, blue eyes, and a face full of freckles. Don’t believe me?

I posted this before and after series on my Facebook photography page and tagged Courtney in it. She sent me a personal message the next day saying that she didn't even recognize herself. When images like this are edited and flipped around 180 degrees, it’s easy to see how people – girls in particular, considering the average model is female – have their visions of beauty distorted. “ I've never seen a model in a magazine with freckles all over her face, only clear skin must be perfect…” and “Wow, that model has pretty red hair! I wish I didn't have my boring blonde hair…” How sad would it be if a girl changed her image to look like a model, if she had only known that in real life, the model looked exactly like her.

Here is a before/after of a supermodel. Truthfully, I have no clue who this model is. I found a website with about a dozen models with their makeup and Photoshop free pictures next to them, and this was the most dramatic of the bunch. Beside from the same dead stare and over-sized breasts, the two photos look as if they’re of different people.

This is Maggie. I took her photo back in September for a family Christmas card. I also worked with Maggie back in my hometown for several months. If I had to guess Maggie’s height and weight, I would say she weighed 120 pounds and was 5’7’’. Do you know what 120 and 5’7” looks like?

Looks as if she just gained 30 pounds with one scroll, doesn’t it? Seeing the after before seeing the before almost makes the before shot look like Maggie is chubby because the after shot appears to look quite “normal.” Because of photo editing and model-anorexia (which is kind of a chicken and the egg concept in and of itself), girls have their self-image skewed and think, “My 135lb figure is too big, photos only show models who appear to weigh 85lbs.” Little do they know the models are quite often normal sized themselves... 

Because of these skewed images that people are accepting as reality:

-In a survey of girls 9 and 10 years old, 40% have tried to lose weight, according to an ongoing study funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

-A 1996 study found that the amount of time an adolescent watches soaps, movies and music videos is associated with their degree of body dissatisfaction and desire to be thin. 

-One study reports that at age thirteen, 53% of American girls are "unhappy with their bodies." This grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen. 

-One in every three (37%) articles in leading teen girl magazines also included a focus on appearance, and most of the advertisements (50%) used an appeal to beauty to sell their products. 

-The commercials aimed at female viewers that ran during the television shows most often watched by teen girls also frequently used beauty as a product appeal (56% of commercials). By comparison, this is true of just 3 percent of television commercials aimed at men. 

- “In a study on fifth graders, 10 year old girls and boys told researchers they were dissatisfied with their own bodies after watching a music video by Britney Spears or a clip from the TV show "Friends".”

Now that you’ve seen the pictures, heard the statistics and been made aware of the effects of these photos, the next time you see an advertisement with a skinny body, perfect completion, and heavenly check bones, will that be the reality that you choose to accept?

Resources:

vHalbrooks, G. (n.d.). The ethics of magazine photo manipulation . Retrieved from http://media.about.com/od/printmedia/a/The-Ethics-Of-Magazine-Photo-Manipulation.htm

vLodriguss, J. (n.d.). The ethics of digital manipulation. Retrieved from http://www.astropix.com/HTML/J_DIGIT/ETHICS.HTM

vMcKay, K. (2009, 04 01). Photo manipulation through history: A timeline. Retrieved from http://ethicsinediting.wordpress.com/2009/04/01/photo-manipulation-through-history-a-timeline/

vSupermodels without makeup. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=31804

vTeen health and the media. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://depts.washington.edu/thmedia/view.cgi?section=bodyimage&page=fastfacts

Welcome!

My name's Meredith and I'm a photographer from Northeast Wisconsin. I was born in raised around Manitowoc, WI, and started my business there taking senior, engagement, wedding, and "just for fun" photos. I'm currently stationed in Houghton, MI where I'm studying "Culture, Communication & Media," at Michigan Technological University, and my photography has followed me here. I've been very blessed with my talents, and I'm looking forward to sharing them with you!