In his article, ‘Ethics in the age of digital photography,’ Long (1999) expresses his concern over the problem of “the public…losing faith” in photojournalists. He states that most of the readers and viewers do not trust what they see as they know that images can now be “created or changed” (Long, 1999) with the help of computers. Long emphasizes the importance of “credibility” in journalism, stating that they “have nothing” (Long, 1999) without it. Long refers to the altered ‘Simpson’ photograph on the cover of the ‘Time’ magazine in contrast to the actual ‘Newsweek’ cover photograph. Rather than illustrating the visual as it actually is, Time magazine used deeper shades to tamper with the photograph to communicate to the people their belief that Simpson is guilty. Long emphatically states that presentation of real news and related photography ought to be “real moments capture in time as they happened, unchanged” (Long, 1999) and that any kind of change or alteration “diminishes their power and turns them into lies” and that it is the journalists’ “obligation to history to make sure this does not happen” (Long, 1999).
Kenneth Brower (1998) reflects similar concerns in his article ‘Photography in the Age of Falsification,’ in which he expresses his worry about the tampering of nature photography. He states that it has become increasingly simpler for photographers to produce “doctored images” (Brower, 1998) with the aid of an “Adobe Photoshop” (Brower, 1998) worth “$589” and “with a scanner thrown in” worth “$599” (Brower, 1998). Brower is worried over the rising trend in tampered photography and states that the issue is causing alarm to writers, “photographer’s work philosophy” (Brower, 1998).
The extent to which the validity of true and real photography is now losing ground can be gauged from the case of the fired journalist, Brian Walski, who altered the photo of a ‘British soldier and a group of Iraqi civilians’ with the help of the computer, in order to enhance the photograph. Walski doctored two photographs and, with the help of his computer, combined them as one photograph, illustrating a British soldier helping some Iraqi nationals to take shelter from a fire near Basra. When contacted by phone, Walski admitted his mistake, stating that he could not “truly explain my complete breakdown in judgment” for his unethical behavior.
References
Long, J. (1999). Ethics in the Age of Digital Photography. NPPA. Web.