Photojournalism: The Controversy Of Manipulating Images

Manipulating images is unfortunately not an uncommon practice. In fact, it has been part of photojournalism about as long as photojournalism has existed. Not only has it existed for many years but it is easier to do than ever with the constant technological advances. The biggest issue with manipulating images is that there is not a solid standard for photographers to follow, and there has never been.

From previous cases where photographers, were punished for their actions, it has become clear that the combination of two images it strictly prohibited as well as alteration in color. Another common place that photographers get caught in is “too much” dodging and burning however because people are fickle it becomes difficult to decide how much is too much.

Some photographers try to live by the idea that what could be done in the dark room is expectable in photography today, however, photographers could and did manipulate photos in the dark room, even W. Eugen Smith, the father of photojournalism. The corruption has trickled down throughout history and it continues to harm people’s views on published content.

To me, it seems like an unstable platform. Photographers that work for large publications that have cement deadlines are under tremendous pressure to
The picture entitled “Gaza City, Palestinian Territories” was made by using one raw image and by adjusting the different tonal values in several copies thus creating an HDR (high dynamic range) image. If boosting a single image’s color is considered an unethical process wouldn’t this technique also be highly unethical. Justifying his actions Hansen said that the photograph was "certainly not a composite or a fake". Leaving “fake photos” a still unstable