Pictures that Lie

This is a picture of a British soldier in Basra that appeared in the Los Angeles Times in April 2003, shortly after the invasion of Iraq. This photo is actually a composite of two photographs taken by a staff photographer, who put them together to "improve" the composition. He was fired when his editor found out. I choose this picture because I think that it represents a more politically significant "lie" than a picture manipulated to make someone skinnier, as it could actually act as propaganda (whether or not the photographer intended that, I can't say) and influence people's opinion of the war. Whether this manipulation is harmful or not is a matter of personal opinion. Some would say yes, that by portraying the British soldier in a protective role (that may not have actually happened) the news was influencing people into thinking the war was a good thing, which just leads to more death. Others could argue the opposite - that increasing public support for the war would help our soldiers, and help them help others. Regardless of your opinion of the war, the fact remains that the manipulation would have consequences, "harmful" or not.

Photo manipulation has other "harmful" side-affects - it is responsible for distorting our perceptions of reality, specifically beauty. As a society, we have been conditioned by constant photo alterations to have an unobtainable and ultimately false idea of what "beauty" is. As this video shows, even models with professional hair and makeup still are not good enough for a billboard without some computer alteration:

While I don't mean to advertise for Dove, I do think this video has an important message to share about recognizing true beauty, and not being fooled by what the media would like us to think.