Ethical and Unethical Implication of Digital Manipulation
Jullie Seder
Final Research Paper
What is ethical and unethical regarding digital manipulation of media content that society is exposed to in modern days? There are many theories and beliefs regarding ethics of digital manipulation. Many people are under the impression that digital manipulation began with the invention of Photoshop like imaging software. The truth is that digital manipulation can be dated back to the invention of photography. The argument that digital manipulation is unethical can be supported in many ways. From photo-touching of a models waistline, to changing the color spectrum in outer-space photos, we are constantly bombarded with a re-touched perception of reality. With constant manipulation of images that the public sees today, how can anyone be sure what they are seeing is accurate? Since the 1980s new techniques have been introduced that simply did not exist before then. With the use of off the shelf programs like Adobe Photoshop a user can quickly clone part of a picture to extend the borders, resize and stretch the image horizontally or vertically and moving objects within the photograph is extremely easy. “There are no hard and fast rules as to how much manipulation is permitted before truth of the photographic statement has been compromised by fine tuning of contrast, color balance, minor burning, and or/ dodging, but he major overhauls of cloning or subject rearrangement are unacceptable.” (Rohde, 1995)
Photography has been evolving since ancient times, dating back to the early 1500s. The first image capturing devices were known as the camera Obscura, and the camera Lucida. These devices were no match compared to the quality of cameras we see today. It wasn’t until the late 1800s when chemistry, technology, and mechanics were finely tuned into creating a device that would capture an image and permanently imprint it. “Historically, photomontages and/or extensive retouching of images were often blatant, time consuming
Final Research Paper
What is ethical and unethical regarding digital manipulation of media content that society is exposed to in modern days? There are many theories and beliefs regarding ethics of digital manipulation. Many people are under the impression that digital manipulation began with the invention of Photoshop like imaging software. The truth is that digital manipulation can be dated back to the invention of photography. The argument that digital manipulation is unethical can be supported in many ways. From photo-touching of a models waistline, to changing the color spectrum in outer-space photos, we are constantly bombarded with a re-touched perception of reality. With constant manipulation of images that the public sees today, how can anyone be sure what they are seeing is accurate? Since the 1980s new techniques have been introduced that simply did not exist before then. With the use of off the shelf programs like Adobe Photoshop a user can quickly clone part of a picture to extend the borders, resize and stretch the image horizontally or vertically and moving objects within the photograph is extremely easy. “There are no hard and fast rules as to how much manipulation is permitted before truth of the photographic statement has been compromised by fine tuning of contrast, color balance, minor burning, and or/ dodging, but he major overhauls of cloning or subject rearrangement are unacceptable.” (Rohde, 1995)
Photography has been evolving since ancient times, dating back to the early 1500s. The first image capturing devices were known as the camera Obscura, and the camera Lucida. These devices were no match compared to the quality of cameras we see today. It wasn’t until the late 1800s when chemistry, technology, and mechanics were finely tuned into creating a device that would capture an image and permanently imprint it. “Historically, photomontages and/or extensive retouching of images were often blatant, time consuming
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