DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 393 429 IR 017 765

AUTHOR Sutton, Ronald E. TITLE Image Manipulation: Then and Now. PUB DATE 93 NOTE 9p.; In: Verbo-Visual Literacy: Understanding and Applying New Educational Communication Media Technologies. Selected Readings from the Symposium of the International Visual.Literacy Association (Delphi, Greece, June 2c-29, 1993); see IR 017 742. PUB TYPE Reports Evaluative/Feasibility (142) Speeches/Conference Papers (150)

EDRS PRICE MFOI/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Documentaries; Editing; *Film Production; *; ; *Production Techniques; *Special Effects; *Visual Literacy IDENTIFIERS *Digital Imagery; *Digital Technology; Electronic Cameras

ABSTRACT The images of photography have been manipulated almost from the moment of their discovery. The blending together in the studio and of images not found in actual scenes from life has been a regular feature of modern photography in both art and . Techniques of manipulation include retouching; blocking out figures or details; cutting out a figure from the background and placing it in a new setting or with a new group; recentering; and slicing a figure or area out of the center and joining the edges. From the beginning of motion pictures, special effects have been present to reshape reality. Many fiction film techniques such as reenactment, directing, scripting, and actors were used in the documentary field up until about 1960, then discarded for a decade or so, and now have reappeared in post modern documentary production. With the advent of the computer and digital technology, images have become more untrustworthy than ever and fakery has become more difficult to detect. One of the devices that may hasten the "decay" of photo journalistic integrity and credibility is the electronic camera. It is the task of the visual educator is to help learners to become visually literate and to be skeptical about how images are created and for what reasons. (Contains 23 references.) (AEF)

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Image Manipulation Then and Now the present day in the works of such artists examines the role of image trustworthiness as Jerry Uelsmann, Cindy Sherman, and in our 20th century society. The argument Nic Nicosea. The blending together in the is a simple one: Photographic imagery, studio and darkroom of images not found both still and motion, has always lied in actual scenes from life has beena (Goldsmith, 1991). The question in the regular feature of modern photography in age of digital cameras is whether the lies both art and advertising. can be detected. That is a differencelying with a trace, and lying without a trace. Art Despite the weight of authenticity Curator William M. Ivins wrote "The 19th placed on them ("if it's a photograph, it century began by believing that what was must be true"), it is quite clear from reasonable was true, and it would end up observing the historical record that the by believing that what it saw photograph photographic record has been manipulated of was true" (Zelle & Sutton, 1991). At by those behind the camera or in the the close of the 20th century that belief darkroom. Alain Jaubert (1989), in this needs to be challenged. book "Making People Disappear:An Amazing Chronicle of Photographic The foundations of science, law, Deception," underscores howthis history, and anthropology are entwine4 manipulation of for political with the "truth" of photography. As is reached its apex in the 20th pointed out in a number of scholarly century.In this excellent study Jaubert works (Barnouw, 1981; Jaubert, 1989; categorizes the favorite techniques of the Mast, 1984; Rosenblum, 1984), this isa photo manipulators: misplacedtrust. The imagesof photography were manipulated almost Retouching from the moment of their discovery. The early technology of photography simply Using a brush and/or paint toremove could not accommodate the dark tones of an imperfection in the print and/or the land and the bright tones of the sky in negative. the same shot.This was solved in the darkroom by stripping two different Blocking photographs together.Sometimes the clouds or other details of the scenewere Painting out figures or details from painted in on the print (Zelle & Sutton, the actual site of the photograph oftento 1991). Also, what began as an attempt to idealize a figure or changea historical remove specks of dust, gelatin flakes, context. broken glass with paintbrush and paint soon gave way to erasing wrinkles, Cutouts/Collage/Montage blemishes, and ultimately unpopular people from historic photographs (Jaubert, Cutting out a figure from the 1989). hackground and placing it ina new setting )1. with a new group.Non-matching In the hands of such photographers shadows often give this techniqueaway. as Oscar G. Rejlander and Henry Peach Robinson, totally fabricated imageswere Recentering produced involvingas many as twenty negatives (Zelle & Sutton, 1991).This Cropping or framing a picture inre- trend in photographic art has continuedto photography or printing to exclude BEST COPY AVAHABLE Verbo-Visual Literacy 184 unwanted figures or information at the choiceswith their forerunner,still sides and edges. photography. Perhaps they are even more illusionary for they evoke the sensation of Effacement watching motion, when in actuality they are merely the projection of successive still Slicing a figure or area out of the images. These occur rapidly enough so center of a picture, then joining the edges, that, thanks to the phenomenon of and retouching to smooth the seam or fill persistence of vision, the image of one in the blank. (Sometimes the blank is left picture blends with the next at a rate of to warn those who might challengethe some 24 frames a second torender a regime in power.) Difficult to do without convincing illusion of motion. leaving traces seen by the trained eye (Jaubert, 1989; Zelle & Sutton, 1991). From the beginning of motion pictures, special effects have also been This catalogue includes only those present to reshape the reality that we techniques that are used on an already watch. People appear and disappear by existing historic photograph.It does not stopping and starting the camera; whole deal with the question of distortion that is towns and distant vistas are added to film built into the photographic choices used in via matte painting on glass; miniatures creating the photo in the first place. These made to scale, coupled with authentic include choices of: mechanicals, fool us into thinking that things are happening on screen that are subject, costume, make-up, impossible, from "King Kong"to "Jurassic Park" (Fielding, 1965). film stock, In the area of narrative fiction films thisis hardly a problem since few lens:wide angle, normal, questions of historicity are involved; telephoto, however, when we turntothe documentary film form, or educational angle: high, low, film, we come upon similar or parallel devices that are used to portray historic aperture/light, events. Many fiction film techniques such as reenactment to achieve matchingaction, shutter speed and shapes and directing, scripting, actors, etc., were used depth of field, in the documentary field up to roughly 1960, discarded for a decade or so, and type of shot, long, medium, now have found their way backinto post close up, m ode r n documentary production (Barnouw, 1981). framing of the subject. Traceable Fakery Many persons have a quite limited understanding of how these factors have Most of what has been discussed to shaped the historical photographic record this point can be identified by a trained and since the medium's invention in 1939. visually literate eye and mind. Books on the cinema (Cheshire, 1979; Giannetti, Motion Pictures 1987; Mast, 1984; Monaco, 1981) abound with information about how illusions are Similarly, since 1895, projected created in fiction film. The documentary motion pictures have shared with still field has also been revealed to the world photography the burden of appearing to be through scholarly work as well (Barnouw, an accurate record of actual events. 1993; Barsam, 1993; Ellis, 1989). However, they share all the above-listed

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Even this quick overview (Zelle & them in three dimensions (Zelle Sutton, 1991) illustrates that even though & Sutton, 1991). the public may follow Oliver Wendell Holmes in viewing photography as a This started as a very high end "mirror with a memory" the public needs operation costing thousands of dollars and now to know that the mirror wasalways involving such names as Scitex, Hell, and cracked, the memory was faulty, selective, Crosfield.Now, it can all be done on and manipulated, a construct of whomever desk top personal computers, especially was holding the 'mirror.'The public Photoshop by Macintosh. needs to know this about the past, for the present and future will demand even more The values to the entertainment, skepticism when it comes to trusting the advertising, and mass communication photographic image. industries are immeasurable in terms of efficiency, economy, and effect.Clearly Computerized Imagery there is much that is beneficial in this revolution that is still creating more With the advent of the computer and wonders for us to absorb each year. its related technologies the world of photography has been revolutionized. But clearly there are dangers here as Whether reworking existing images, well.Some of these serious concerns creating new ones on program command, were addressed at a seminar sponsored by or capturing fresh images through a new The Annenberg Washington Program in breed of electronic cameras, there is little Communications Policy Studies of question that images have become even Northwestern University, held December more untrustworthy than ever. 10, 1991 in Washington, D.C.Don E. Tomlinson (1993) has created a significant This is all done through digitization. monograph entitled "Computer Manipula- This is a process in which the photograph tion and Creation of Images and Sounds: is scanned by machine and broken down Assessing the Impact" based on this into tiny picture elements called pixels. seminar. Each pixel is analyzed for information (shape, color, brightness, etc.) and I quote at length from the Executive assigned a numerical code.Then the Summary of the seminar and monograph computer can make a number of changes because of the clear note of alarm it sounds before storing the final image on a and the probing questions it raises. magnetic disk: Technological changeinmass retouch spots and scratches, communication is occurring so rapidly itis impossible to stay brighten or change color, completely abreast of even the most significant changes, much less their add new elements to the picture; meaning and possible ramifications. move or eliminate existing Some of the changes may seem material, evolutionary. Others, however, are revolutionary, such as the switch extend backgrounds to fit page from analog to digital technology. format, fill in new holes caused With the coming of the computer, the by removals, change simply was inevitable. draw in shadows to make a This transition has two major and common light source, interrelated facets. One has to do with the means of communication. The other, and perhaps more turn images in perspective or cast important, has to do with the content

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of what is to be communicated creators. Truthfulness and reliability may because digital technology makes enter into the equation but at a lower possible the easy, quick, and priority than many laypersons would undetectable manipulation of images realize. and sounds The task of the visual educator is to The potential effect on journalism is help learners see these aspects, to help profound.How will our lives them to become visually literate.Being change when we can no longer trust skeptical about how images are created and the images and sounds provided to for what reasons they have been us by the news media? How will constructed should be a fundamental tenet our lives change when government of all modern curriculums in all fields, in and politicians and historians can all professions. manipulate the images and sounds we see and hear?. .. Some may quarrel with the tenn skepticism. That may not seem to be an The potential legal ramifications are appropriate element in helping the young also immense. Given the degree of understand their world. Should we mr ke digital visual and aural manipulation young children skeptics from the start? that could occur, especially in the Can cynicism be far behind? I am afraid, news media, there are implications of for the time being, my answer is a the First Amendment. Copyright vigorous yes and the sooner the better. law as we know it today could prove Distinguished media scholar, Raymond to be wholly inadequate as a means Fielding (1987), who attended the of protecting ownership interests in Annenberg Seminar, puts the issue this images and sounds.Tort law way writing in "Newsfilm as a Scholarly implications arise in relation to libel, Resource: Opportunities and Hazards:" false light privacy invasion, product disparagement, and rightof The problem of editorial distortion publicity, among others. There will and misrepresentation is one with beconsiderablecontract-law which we have had to deal for many implications. Will imans and years. However, a far more serious sounds continue to be admissible problemfacesusinour evidence once the product of technologically elegantfuture. recorded communication exists only Computer hardware and software inthedigital domain?. . . now existsfortheunlimited (Tomlinson, 1993) modification and digital retouching ofstillandmovingpicture The changes that Tomlinson outlines photographs and in a manner which are noteworthy and serious--an agenda for is undetectable. educators of all types. However, what I have tried to point out, in the earlier pages It is the- undetectable part that is of this paper (and in earlier publications chilling.This i& related to the digital done with my colleague Ann Zelle) is that wizardry of the computer.In analog we should help people see that their faith copying and modifying the copy print in the simple veracity or trustworthiness of exhibits a generational loss from the image communication has always been original. In digital transfer no such loss is misplaced. In the terms of present day detectable.Here is the way Tomlinson analytical scholarship especially related to (1993)'describes it: media literacy, it is important to assist all persons to understand that media images In digital videotape editing, there is are constructs. They are created for a absolutely no loss of quality from variety of reasons, one of which, in our generation to generation because the society, is to make money for their source signal is not being transferred Image Manipulation 187

to the resulting videotape, as is the Sounds Also Can Lie case with the analog technology. The resulting videotape, through the It is clear that sound reality is in digital process, receives binary every bit as much danger of modification computer information;itisa and invention as image reality. The same mathematical recreation, .not a digital techniques can be used to alter, or transference. And since it is purely a sample or clip sound. While some sections mathematical process, the source of our society may care little when this image can be altered fundamentally remains a battle between record companies and undetectably before and/or over digitally sampling rap stars, the fact during the reproduction. (p. 10-11) that the President of the United States, or Yasser Arafat, and Yitzhak Rabin could be What this means is that there is no made to say something with their own original negative/print/tape against which voice which they actually never said is to compare the altered version. quite disturbing at this delicate point in the Middle Fast peace process. The possibilities for mischief, historical, political, legal, and cultural, are Reaction to Manipulation legion. Suddenly, a long hidden photograph showing Lee Harvey Oswald Moving to the area of application and meeting with Fidel Castro could become a implication itisinterestingand part of the historical record, lending encouraging to note the shock with which credence, if not proof, to that particularly news of digitilization of photographs is conspiracy theory about the Kennedy met when exposed to the public: assassination. Here is Tomlinson's (1993) well-chose scenario: TV Guide's gaffe in placing 's head on Ann The 1981 footage of the Reagan Margaret's body (Zelle & Sutton, assassination attempt, for example, 1991). might be amended as follows: T h e National Geographic's 1. afew representative frames rearrangement of the pyramids amended by the removal of the for its February 1982 cover other individuals from in front of (Becker,1991; Tomlinson, the President when he was shot; 1993; Zelle & Sutton, 1991).

2. additions in those frames to The Time 1988 special issue on show what an unobstructed view the150thanniversary of of Reagan getting shot might photography that pledged it have looked liked; and would never digitally manipulate a photograph, yet contained a 3. the computer then filling in what digitally manipulated image of the remaining frames would look Mary Decker on its cover and like given the human amending inside page (Tomlinson, 1993). already done. In both his writing and personal Once any such amendings were lectureandinterview,freelance completed, the human editor would photographer and journalism professor command the computer to review, Tony Kelly indicates that the profession is refine, and reform any frames that being hard-pressed to control the easy did not look photographically real. manipulation of images.When isit The entire process would take only a innocent--taking out the offending antenna few minutes. (pp. 12-13) that seems to spring from Mary Decker's 188 Verbo-Visual Literacy body, and when is it catastrophicalbeit Sony now has the ProMavica which amwingwhen a picture of a swimming stands for Magnetic Video Camera. This pool was digitalized back to blue from red uses analog images not converted because the computer folks did not know it immediately to digital. This camera lists was to accompany a story in the Orange for $9,000 (Edwards, 1993). County Register about vandals dumping red dye in a local pool? (Becker, 1991; Kodak's DCS 100 and 200 digital Kelly, 1992). imaging camera uses a computer chip. Here is a consumer oriented blurb from Photojournalism at Risk Byte magazine (1993): Many feel that photo journalistic The Kodak DCS 200ci shares a integrity and credibility may be at stake lineage with Kodak's original (Tomlinson, 1993). electroniccamera,but some important advances distinguish it. If photographic reality were defined Its price comes in at under $10,000, by a consumer of photojournalism, yet it provides the same resolution the definition might be: the images and quality as its $25,000 stablemate presented accurately represent the in a smaller, consumer-oriented object of the photography as package. Pictures are stored on an recorded and subsequently internal hard drive and downloaded disseminated by mass communica- directly to a PC or a Mac. Operating tors. Because photographic reality in costsarevirtuallyeliminated: photojournalismtranslatesto There's no film to buy and no need credibility,itisanessential for a high-quality scanner. Results ingredientof any mainstream are almost instantaneous, and in an American journalistic enterprise. ecology-conscious world, there's no film or chemical wastes to worry Many scholars, including Tomlinson about. (1993),feelthat photo-journalistic credibility will be seriously challenged if An article by Howard Eglowstein not completely undermined by the new (1993) in this same edition of Byte gives digital revolution. an extensive test comparison of the Sony MVC 7000 and the above-mentioned One of the devices that may hasten Kodak DCS 200ci.They are both this decay is the electronic camera. evaluated as quick, efficient cameras that take instantly reviewable pictures without Electronic Cameras film but with lower resolution than film. Sony announced the Mavica in 1981. Tony Kelly (1993) explained that A working prototype was demonstrated they do not work well for full page glossy and Mr. Murita of Sony stated that this magazine work: "You can go up to three device would revolutionize photography column width but blowing them up (Edwards, 1993; Becker, 1991). beyond that is a problem as to sharpness, resolution, and picture quality." Canon joined the field and developed its video still camera by 1986. It presently A final entry in this field is the Leaf markets this equipment actively (an ad for Digital Studio Camera. This is a camera the system was contained in the United back which attaches to conventional studio Airlines Flight Magazine I read on the way cameras such as Hasselblad, Sinar, to the Visual Literacy Symposium in Cambo, and Mamiya Rx-67 and feeds the Delphi, Greece [Hemispheres,June images into a Mac computer. Developed 1993]), (Edwards, 1993). and connected to Scitex, Leaf is centered Image Manipulation 189

intheBoston area (Leaf, 1993; What is really needed is education of Schlowsky, 1992). the consumer in visual literacy and media literacy. Ray Fielding suggests some of This system is used primarily in those in the media might help with this studio work .vith advertising and I suspect vast educational task (Tomlinson, 1993): causes little problems due to the low credibility rating of ad photography ...they should make some exciting historically. programs about the new technology itself so as to bring the audience into Conclusions the process; thereby making the audience aware of the problems of What I have tried to argue is that the information communicator and of image manipulation is not something new. the historical communicator: In this It has been present since the birth of both way it is the audience who would in still and motion photography. The element the end decide what will be done that is tricky is the without a trace and the with this exciting new technology ease of accomplishment factors, both of that has been made available to us which I have tried to highlight in my (Tomlinson, 1993, p. 57). presentation. We can use the media to teach about There is little question that there is a the media We can use the media or let the need for broad, candid, and simple media use us. One of the tasks for the information sharing, for education of the 21st century in the area of Visual Literacy most basic kind. There is also a need for istoteachpeople about Image more rigorous professional standards. Manipulation: Then and Now. Kelly (1991) speaks of this in the June 1991 edition of Editor and Publisher when References he quotes one of the protocols developed at the Poynter Seminar on Journalistic Barnouw, E. (1981). The magician and Ethics: the cinema. New York:Oxford University Press. Manipulation of (documentary and news) photographs, which alters the Barnouw, E.(1993). Documentary: A content or context, is unacceptable. history of the non-fiction film.New Electronic or manual methods should York: Oxford University Press. be used only to assure the highest reproductionqualityofthe Barsam, R. (1993). Non-fiction film: A photograph. Photo illustrations are crizal history(rev. ed.). conceptual images and should be Bloomington, IN: Indiana University (easily)distinguishable from Press. documentary photography. Becker, K. E.(1991) To control our Karin Becker's (1991) study of the image:Photojournalists and new pages of News Photographer, the official technology.Media, Culture, and monthly publication of the National Press Society.London, Newbury Park, & Photographers' Association, reflects the New Delhi. same concerns that the credibility of the press photograph be salvaged through Byte. (1993, January). 18(1). applied professional standards and guidelines.However, many feel this Cheshire, D. (1979).- The book of movie simply will not work in a profession that, photography. New York: Alfred A. unlike Law and Medicine, is not a Knopf. profession with recognizable standards for entry and ouster. Davis, D.(1985, Junc 3).Seeing isn't

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believing. , 68-70. Kelly, T.. (1992,November). Manipulating reality:From cave Edwards, E. (1993, July). Sony Office. images to digital voodoo.Lecture Telephone interview. given at The American University, Washington, DC. Ellis, J.(1989). The documentary idea. Newark, NJ: Prentice Hall. Kelly, T. (1993, June 6). Telephone interview. Eglowstein,H. (1993,January). Photography by the numbers.Byte, Kelly, T. (1991, June 8).Manipulating 18(1), 241-244. reality. Editor and Publisher, 16-17. Fielding, R.(1987).Newsfilm as a Mast, G. (1984). A world of history of scholarly resource: Opportunities and photography. New York: Albeville hazards. Iamhist, 7(1), 53. Press. Fielding, R.(1965).The techniques of Schlowsky, L. (1992, November). special effects cinematography. New Digital vision: The birth of a filmless York: Hastings. photography studio. Photo Electronic Imaging. Giannetti, L.(1987). Understanding movies (4th ed.). Newark, NJ: Tomlinson, D. E. (1993). Computer Prentice Hall. manipulation and creation of images and sounds: Assessing the impact. Goldsmith, A.(1991).Photos always The Annenberg Washington Program lied.Popular Photography, 98, 68- in Communications Policy Studies of 75. Northwestern University, Washington, DC. Jaubert, A.(1989). Making people disappear (English ed.). Washington, Zelle, A., & Sutton, R.(1991). Image DC: Pergaman-Brassey. manipulation: The Zelig phenomenon. Journal of Visual Literacy, 11(1), 10- Kelly, T. (1993). Technology, interest are 37. forcing newspapers to be image- conscious. Chicago Journalist, 3(1) 1, 4, & 5.

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