Half of what you see: Truth in the time of Photoshop
It used to take smoke and mirrors to make things appear or disappear, but today all one needs is access to Photoshop®. British Petroleum (BP) used Photoshop (or a similar program) to alter oil spill photos it displayed on its website, according to the Washington Post journalist Steven Mufson (2010).
The article reports that a BP spokesperson, Scott Dean, said that "there was nothing sinister in the photo alteration and provided the original unaltered version" when the photo was challenged.
Lincoln's head, Calhoun's body
Photo alterations have been around since the time of President Abraham Lincoln, according to the Photo Tampering Throughout History website. A well-known picture of Lincoln shown on the website is actually a composite of Lincoln's head and the southern politician John Calhoun's body.
Benito Mussolini
Another well-known example of photo alteration prior to the advent of computer programs like Photoshop is this picture of Benito Mussolini. Hoping to project a braver and more powerful portrait of himself as a leader, Mussolini demanded that the handler holding the reins to his horse be removed from the photograph.
O.J. Simpson
TIME Magazine altered a photo of O.J. Simpson after Simpson's arrest for murder by digitally altering the shadows and color of his face. The "enhanced" photo appeared on the cover of their magazine. This photograph was manipulated from the original mugshot that appeared, unaltered, on the cover of Newsweek. TIME magazine was subsequently accused of manipulating the photograph to make Simpson appear "darker" and "menacing," according to the article on photo tampering.
Sarah Palin
In 2008, a photo of Sarah Palin, Republican vice presidential nominee, was circulated on the Internet showing Palin wearing a bikini made from an American flag while holding a rifle. Photoshop experts created the image by reversing and reducing the size of her head from one photo and placing it on the body of another woman.
New York Times fooled
Even the New York Times was fooled by digital tomfoolery. In 2009, the New York Times Magazine published a pictorial essay entitled "Ruins of the Second Gilded Age," by Edgar Martins. The introduction to the essay stated that the photographer "creates his images with long exposures but without digital manipulation."
After realizing that photo manipulations had taken place, the Times acknowledged the fakery. "Had the editors known that the photographs had been digitally manipulated, they would not have published the picture essay, which has been removed from NYTimes.com," according to the article.
Twiggy
In December 2009, Olay beauty products ran a magazine ad featuring Twiggy, the famous 1960s English model. "Olay is my secret to brighter-looking eyes," read the ad, "... reduces the look of wrinkles and dark circles for brighter, younger-looking eyes."
When confronted with the Photoshopped makeover for the 60-year-old Twiggy, an Olay spokesperson said the "minor retouching" had been inconsistent with its policies and it had already replaced the image with one that had "no postproduction work in the eye area," according to the article.
Altering history
Every image we see in print, on the Web or other media might have been enhanced, altered, digitally manipulated or faked to either change history, as in removing cigars and cigarettes from the hands of famous people or to reflect racial balance by adding Photoshopped pictures of African-American or Hispanic models in advertising photos.
President Obama
Some photos have been changed for political reasons to help create a public misconception like the Palin photo or this one of President Obama, which was designed to make Obama look alone and bewildered.
Composite women
Women have long been the target of photo manipulations, from the predigital-age splicing of Oprah Winfrey's head onto the slim body of Ann-Margret, to creating artificially altered females like the Twiggy photo or this photo of a Ralph Lauren model who looks so thin everyone knew instantly the photo was altered.
Don't believe everything you see
"Don't believe everything you hear" is advice that has been given out through the ages. Today we must include "don't believe everything you see." The digital age did not create photo manipulation, but it has made every photo we see today suspect.
Photoshop is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Inc.
All trademarks, registered trademarks, product names and company names or logos mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. The use or display of any third party trademark, product name, company name or logo does not imply endorsement, sponsorship, affiliation or recommendation.
