The Art Of Image Altering

Today's Technology Allows Picture Manipulation Into Images Very Different From The Original

(CBS)  What is real? What is a true likeness? The smiles on their faces are genuine, but what ends up in the family album may not look exactly the same.

We can now alter these class pictures digitally so no kid has a runny nose or a blemish in the final photo.

In our digital age, images fly at us with remarkable speed and frequency. Computers, television, cell phones — this flood of visual information pours into our eyes, and our brains then determine if we like what we see. But, more and more, my brain is asking, is it real? Or is it a contrivance? Has it been touched up for vanity? Or altered to make a political point?

For example, a photographer added more smoke to a picture of the war in Lebanon for effect.

"It was a pretty crude manipulation," Dr. Hany Farid, who teaches computer science at Dartmouth, told The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. The truth came out and the photographer was fired.

John Kerry's political enemies tried to pass judgment on his patriotism when they found this photo with anti-war activist Jane Fonda, which eventually turned out to be fake. Regrettably, Katie Couric lost a dress size or two to a photo editor at CBS Promotions. Flattery? Or a failure to communicate?

We assume the pictures we see in glossy magazines have been touched up, but what of the photos of your family and friends? Have they been touched up a little? And does it matter?

"A lot of people who do Match.com send me photographs," Farid said. "They're about to meet somebody and I can tell you the vast majority of images on dating sites have been at least manipulated in some way."

Farid helped invent software that can detect when an image has been digitally altered. Sometimes it really does matter, from a police surveillance video to medical malpractice images.

"Men taking the hairline and bringing it down a little bit — very common," he said. "And very easy to do. It's my favorite manipulation. I mean, some of the most famous portraits of Abraham Lincoln, for example, are his head in somebody else's body. Stalin famously airbrushed people out of photographs that fell out of favor. It's not that it hasn't been done. It's just that it's just so much easier and so much more prevalent now."

What makes it all so easy is Photoshop, made in Silicon Valley by Adobe. With Photoshop you can alter just about anything.

"When it comes time to work with images it's the standard," Dave Story, Adobe's vice president of product development, said. "Everyone uses it. Every image that you see in print, on TV, other places, you could be completely assured that Photoshop has likely touched that image."

In the fashion world models are modified to a level of perceived beauty that doesn't exist anywhere but on billboards.

[ladydopamine]

I too am looking for the clip of the model being altered (neck elongated, eyes doubled in size) for a speech I'm doing. I need that clip!!!!

[ladydopamine]

I too am looking for the clip of the model being altered (neck elongated, eyes doubled in size) for a speech I'm doing. I need that clip!!!!

[eloncomprof]

How about posting the video from Sunday's show on your site? It's a great starting point for a class discussion.

[killian211]

I was very impressed that the children who were being photographed at the beginning of this segment looked so happy and comfortable with the photographer and the pictures looked really good too. In case anyone is interested, I did a little digging and found that the company the child care center uses is 'Kids At Heart Photography'. Their website is: www.schoolphotos.com

[errn_gurl55]

Females are the main *** subjected to the false advertisements done by artists such as Mahurin. If false advertising is considered a crime and one can be fined for it, then companies who distort the images of models should be fined because they are promoting an image that doesn't exist. The Dove film was very moving and eye opening to how deceived we are by companies.

[jediams331]

I saw that video Dove made about the woman who was edited, modified, and perfected for an advertisment. She was just like a research paper, run through with a fine tooth comb till she was perfected. I don't personally like the fact that advertisers do this. It gives teenagers an impression that perfection is everything, when in actuallity, perfection doesn't exsist. I would like to see more models portrayed as "themselves" rather than modified beings. If people saw more of natural beauty, we may not have the self-esteem problems that many of us do.

[tnbradford]

This article ivery intriguing. It tells you the truth exactly for what it is. I know this from the experience factor. People I know do the same thing with their photos for myspace and other social sites.

[shawraider]

This is a large part of the reason that American girls [and some boys] are so twisted in how they think they should look. It makes you wonder what we're coming to.

[tnbradford]

I think that beauty is only skin deep and people are too concerned about what's on the outside when its really about what's on the inside.

[autumnschurg]

My mother uses Match.com so i know how these types of things work. My mom will recieve a photo and chat with the person but when it comes time to meet them in person, they dont turn out to look anything like their picture. I also saw the video clip that dove had. I think its stupid that magazines and such are allowed to tamper with the photos. Wouldnt that be false advertising? I think so. I think that due to all the "false" images printed on bilboards, young girls starve themselves just to get that perfect image.

[jakgraphic-2009]

I'm wondering where is, or what is, that program which shows that the image has been manipulated? Any info would be appreciated!

[melteresa]

I would also like to know where I can find the video of the Madison Avenue model that was altered for my busines law class.

[melteresa]

I think any photo that has been retouched, altered in any way should be identified as so. How about a "warning" like "photo altered" somewhere on the thing? That is simple enough. Fifty years from now, our great, great, great grandchildren will look at photos, history books and be amazed at the "beautiful people", amazining sights and news stories of our time. If they only knew which were faked and which were real.

[zn427]

Guys might like this item -- related to image manipulation...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UberBabes/

[designed27]

thanks. i also found it on youtube none the less. http://youtube.com/watch?v=uT4dpFpiTgk

[flor_de_liz]

it can be found at:
http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/

[flor_de_liz]

it can be found at:
http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/

[flor_de_liz]

it can be found at:
http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/

[boudachaea]

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[boudachaea]

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