People say that a picture is worth a thousands words. However, no one ever said that a picture can potentially start a war. When using a certain type of photo with a certain type of message during a particular moment in time, the consequences of what can come of those pictures can be life changing or even detrimental. Now, let me throw in a twist: what happens when those pictures that can start a world war….are fake? That’s a scary thought, because it is entirely plausible. There images “created” everyday meant to changes people’s perspectives that are actually not even true. And what does that say for us as a society that we are so willing to believe everything we see before looking into the facts. In this post we will discover key points of Errol Morris’, “Photography as a Weapon” and try to understand what could inevitably be the true weapon of mass destruction.

The article first talks about the Missiles from Iran that could of potentially started a war, but were to be revealed as Photoshopped later on. At first I didn’t see it, but when they actually circled the areas where you can clearly see where they had Photoshopped, as you can see in the image provided:

To me that’s CRAZY that so much hype and controversy can come from something that does not even exist. I found it funny how Charles said they didn’t even do a good or creative job if the image is supposed to create such an impact.

CHARLES JOHNSON: Well, you can take the image into Photoshop and exaggerate the contrast, or do some other kinds of manipulations. That can show you where areas were cut and pasted. There is no need to really put it under the microscope when it’s staring you in the face.

 

It’s nice to know that some images such as these can be spotted so easily. However, what about the Photoshopped images that are a little better at covering their tracks…

It’s true that the majority of us are visual learners and can better retain images than listen to someone telling us about said image. It comes down to a neurological level where 30 to 50 percent of our brain is taking things in visually. With that said, though, even though someone is showing us a photo under the pretext of, “This is fake by the way.” We still remember the image nevertheless and still associate that image with certain memories and things we know. Photographers know that and use that to their advantage. That doesn’t mean though that every photo that isn’t Photoshopped is automatically true. It could mean that they were staged to tell a certain message or come across as if they were true or in other words… they’re false. Such as the photo taken at Kent State to give a message about the war:

On that note, Morris makes an excellent point by stating that you shouldn’t try to figure out if something is Photoshopped or not by comparing it to a real image, but rather comparing the fake image to another fake image as a way of confirmation.

However, beside focusing so much on how awful Photoshop can be for our society, let’s change the focus on how is can be used as a positive thing and a weapon to make a point about corruption instead of an actual weapon. Helmut Herzfeld is a perfect example of one who knows how to up this practice into good use. During the time of World War I, propaganda was really starting to make a claim where the government was basically trying to shape how the people of Germany were supposed to feel. Therefore, Herzfeld used that notion to his advantage and incorporated irony to make his point by creating (not even Photoshopping) an image of a German man who’s head is completely covered in newspaper or “propaganda” with the caption saying,

“Whoever reads bourgeois newspapers becomes blind and deaf. Away with these stultifying bandages.”

All in all I found the article extremely informative. Perhaps my favorite article I’ve read so far. It incorporates the subject well, but in a way that I’m constantly engaged and and concerned at the same time. When the article is so good that at every turn you are correlating what it’s saying to elements in your own life, then that’s when you get a successful story. While the notion of Photoshop is barely reaching it’s true potential, what’s important to understand is not only the power it holds, but what that means for us, the ones who get to control the type of power in-store for humanity.