Photo Editing ~ Is it Real or Fake? News or Opinion?
One subject of photography that I find fascinating is photo and video editing. However, editing can lead to misrepresentation. Seeing isn’t always believing in today’s digital world. According to the Washington Post, there are three ways that video is altered: taken out of context, deceptively edited, or deliberately altered. Misrepresentation occurs often with incorrect dates or locations to challenge context. Deceptive editing is the video that had purposely been edited and rearranged. For example, splicing multiple clips together to tell the desired narrative rather than what happened. The deliberately altered video appears frequently on social media in the form of political ads where cropping, dubbing auto, or deleting visual information can deceive the viewer. Editing of videos and photos poses a problem in today’s media as it makes it difficult for a viewer to determine if what is being presented is real or fake news. This is an example of news as it pertains to the published information by the Washington Post and includes steps for viewers to recognize the altered video.
According to NPPA, determining the source of an image is the utmost priority for photojournalists. Adding or removing content had always been unethical but the difference today is that digital tools allow easy, extensive, and seamless manipulations. Combine the ease of editing with the ease of distribution on social media, altered images quickly spread or go viral. This is an example of news and opinion as it reflects on various photographers' opinions on editing as well as the importance of acknowledging that image editing can alter the perception of the story resulting in fake news.
The Seattle Times reported on digitally altered images in coverage of Seattle’s protests. “… where demonstrators have taken over several city blocks on Capitol Hill after Seattle police abandoned the East Precinct, Fox’s website for much of the day featured a photo of a man standing with a military-style rifle in front of what appeared to be a smashed retail storefront.” In reality, the image was a composite of photos from different days and by different photographers. The ability for everyone to edit a photo or video from their phone means that everyone can share the images, however real or fake they may be. This article is an example of news as it is published by a well-known newspaper publication, and has verifiable information.
Another opinion on photo editing comes from Jeremy Gray. This article discusses when is it cheating to edit your photos? The author, Jeremy Gray, agrees with the prior posts regarding editing as a tool for manipulating images for photojournalism or documentary photography as unethical and not okay. However, when it comes to art, editing is welcome.
Taking images is a way to capture moments in time forever. In my opinion, I love to edit images to create art. Changing colors, contrast, focus, etc. makes photography fun for me. However, I only edit images of other people when they request it. Things such as fixing a double chin, removing moles, etc. are easy to do, but comely removing an unwanted guest at a party from an image takes time and also misrepresents the image. It is all about context when it comes to taking newsworthy images.
Here are a few of my own rules when it comes to editing images:
· Is there something in the image that shouldn’t be there (spots on the lens) that requires editing to remove is helpful to the client
· Does the client want something specific removed?
· Would this image be better using a filter?
· Should changing the color of the image and adding spot color back in make a powerful image that can be used for years to come?
Following these rules means that I can spend my time wisely and still have time for my job and the family outside the office.
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