I chose a picture depicting the Great Pyramids of Giza taken by Hany Farid of Dartmouth College for a 1982 National Geographic Magazine. I chose this picture because I found it visually appealing and I've always found pyramids fascinating. I also chose it because I like to read National Geographic if I find one lying around. Well, I do not really like to read it so much as I enjoy looking at the pictures. This particular picture was changed from its original format to squeeze the pyramids closer together to fit the magazine's format for the front cover. In my opinion, the manipulation was not harmful. The editors did it for a practical reason—to include both of the pyramids on the cover to make it more visually appealing. The manipulation did not defame anyone or present anything falsely for the purpose of deceiving as some of the other pictures on the CNet website. Basically, if a photo is changed simply for design reasons I believe it is okay, but one should still be aware that pictures are not always what they seem to be, even if they are in a creditable magazine such as National Geographic.
Photo taken from: CNet
Excellent analysis! You write well and made some very good points.
ReplyDeleteLB
You're right, doctoring the photo wasn't harmful at all. It just spurs our interest which is never a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the picture was not changed in a way that is deceptive.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there was no malice intended in squeezing the pyramids together but it is still a misrepresentation that could be misleading.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this; I hadn't seen this picture and it's pretty. :)
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