Photo Manipulation and Ethics

A:

Even though the manipulation of photos may aid in increase sales/revenue, it is important for all photojournalists to show the photo as it is.

Photos are used in media to support a story's validity as well as the story itself.

Pictures that are distorted can alter the public's opinion upon the story, resulting in bias.

This is considered unethical, as the public should determine their stance on the topic, not be influenced by a photo with a distortion that depicts a certain feeling.

If the public finds out that an image is distorted, the photo damages the company's sales, and/or their reputation.


B:

Washington Post and New York Times have a strict philosophy on image manipulation. They provide photographers guidelines on how to manipulate their photographs without breaching the ethics of photo manipulation.

C:

I feel that if a photo is going to be used in a story, cropping out certain images, or inserting images is unethical. The photo is not trustworthy anymore because it shows a scene that never actually happened in real life. If it's color alterations or adjusting how dark a photo is, then it is okay as long as it is meant to improve the photo's visibility.


D:



This is probably the most unethical photo I've found. The image on the left is the distorted image. The distorted image has been distorted to make the person (OJ Simpson) appear more menacing. This gives off bias.


E:

This is the least unethical image. The pyramid was "squished" due to the magazine being in vertical format. The distortion does not emit any bias toward an event or story.