20 November 2008

Defending Doctored Photos

| rosebud
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Remember when Jon Stanhope posed before the cameras of the Canberra Times a few years ago dressed in a white lab coat and holding a stethoscope? No? Well, that’s because he never did. The Canberra Times photo-shopped it. I recall they defended those actions vigorously, complaining loudly that it isn’t unethical and happens all the time. So imagine my surprise today while reading the BBC online to see that Associated Press has suspended the use of a photo of a US General because, shock horror, the background Stars and Stripes was digitally inserted. They claim that this sort of thing ‘damages credibility’.

“For us, there’s a zero-tolerance policy of adding or subtracting actual content from an image,” said Santiago Lyon, AP’s director of photography.

They should take a leaf out of the CT book of ethics and chill out man. Like, who cares about credibility anymore anyway?

[ED – to be fair there have been a lot of changes at the CT since that particular atrocity.]

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News should be undoctored. Leave the fakes to Ralph and Cosmo.

I feel that there is a big difference between airbrushing the photo of Britney so she looks less of a hag, and totally faking the moon landings…

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy9:37 am 21 Nov 08

Doctored images are fodder for idiots.

A few years the TV guide appearing in the sunday Tele was printed with the undoctored headshot of some TV actor and geez it looked bad! All pockmarks and facial hair was there, as well as the crows feet around her eyes.

I’m not sure what I prefer – the “perfection” of doctored images or “as they appear”…

Well, I’m not labelling any doctored photos. Pimple removed from left-hand side of chin. Sheesh!

The CT had a doctored photo of the Greens the other dfay – but they did label it as an altered photo.

I expect so, willo. They can do pretty much anything these days I believe. Like in that movie with Sandra Bullock.

do ya reckon they could delete stanhope????…..permanently????

I think we should just invent the news as well.

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