Is it real or is it altered?

By

Team Coach Suzy Hoffmann

The question is not easy to answer with the imaging software available today. This issue is a hot topic of debate in the publishing industry and important for students everywhere to consider. Pictures have long been considered evidence in court trials, documents in historical exhibits, or as proof you have been somewhere special for vacation. Due to the ease and popularity of photo altering programs, photos must be looked at closely to insure they are real.

Consider the two following articles from well know magazines which look at this topic. The first article, WHEN SEEING ISN’T BELIEVING (POPULAR MECHANICS,Electronics, DECEMBER 1997), explores the use of images as evidence in the famous O.J. Simpson trial. In this article, writer Tobey Grumet shows how easy it is to change Mr. Simpson’s shoes without ever untying a shoelace. The second article, Believing Your Eyes (Scientific American, From the Editor, August 1988), discusses an image used on the cover of Scientific American’s May 1998 issue (Scientific American, May 1998). The altered cover image has astronaut Shannon Lucid looking out a porthole onboard the Russian space station Mir. The picture looks real but is actually an "artists’ interpretation," that was created from several photos. Many readers did not read the explanation inside the magazine entitled, About the Cover, and mistakenly assumed it was a real photograph. Read the credits carefully, it might surprise you!

Be careful about where your students obtain photographs and images to use in projects. They need to avoid the temptation of just scanning any interesting image and using it as they wish. Make sure their sources are "ROYALTY-FREE" or you are probably violating copyright laws. Many clipart CD’s and Internet sites allow you to use their images, if properly cited. Many of our images are from a site, which charges a very small membership fee. If you use your own photographs this is not an issue. However, most reference works, such as encyclopedias simply license the use of photos and do not own them.

Other Suggested Readings:

Schneider, Jason. "GIVE NATURE A HELPING HAND." Popular Photography February 1998: 62-67.  Check this article out and learn how fooling with mother nature has never been easier!

King, David.  The Commissar Vanishes: The Falsification of Photographs And Art In Stalin's Russia.  New York: Metropolitan Books, 1997.  See how images, often used as historical and political documents, were altered before the digital age.

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