Ethics and Photo Manipulation

......shaping the ethical bottom line? Identifying factors influencing young readers' acceptance of digital news photo alteration" discusses digital ethics as it relates to photo manipulation in the digital age. More specifically, the authors aim to understand and examine what affect young readers' rejection/acceptance of news images that have been digitally altered. The authors discover key influencers in readers' choices.

"The major finding is that the perceived prevalence of photo alteration, media credibility, and personal Photoshop use and knowledge are the major influencers of "non-professional" standards of acceptance of photo alteration." (Yao, Perlmutter and Liu 124) The authors imply the need for intervention from a professional and scholarly level as well as participation by ethical activists to advocate for ethical standards as well as provide a public discussion of photo alteration.

In a day and age where social media has proliferated and anyone with a camera can make a name for themselves, it stands to identify a growing need for discussion. The public must be made aware of the various way photos are manipulated and the growing trend to only show manipulated photos. The article begins with a brief background of ethics covering multiple factors that have dramatically altered the ethical landscape.

From introduction of social media to the use of digital camera and the internet, things have taken a different direction than a few decades ago. For example, non-industry professionals did not have access to high end camera equipment. Now with the improvement of consumer photo technology specifically seen on portable decides like smart phones, it is no wonder photo manipulation has grown in popularity throughout various sources of media. Apps like Snapchat and Instagram have filters that can change a person's appearance, even swap their faces.

This creates an atmosphere of changeability that promotes altered images. This is exactly what the authors note in the study. There is an absence in ethics due to the popularity of these changes seen occurring in the last five years. This coupled with retouches and alterations on magazines and in photoshoots, it is no wonder the public has grown accustomed to the altered reality represented in these images. One book examining photography and civic spectatorship notes the passive spectatorship of the public in regards to ethical living.

"The public is locked into passive spectatorship rather than authentic participation and thereby is given only poor or worse options for ethical living." (Hariman and Lucaites 9) When everyone participates in seemingly unethical practices such as photo manipulation, it often seems to derail not only any discussion of the topic but also any participation or awareness of it. It seems photo manipulation may be accepted as the norm in a society that tolerates altered forms of reality through the lens.

The article continues to make valid points concerning the growing trend of amateur interest in photography and the changes seen in terms of ethics. With more and more amateurs altering photos to suit their needs and professionals altering photos to suit the interests and desires of the public, it seems like the norm has become photo manipulation. If there is any way to get back some of the genuineness that the authors mentioned in.