RESEARCH

After researching and experimenting I learned that images in photography are being manipulated in various ways that evoke specific visual responses that can strip away the value of truth. So if truth in photography is hard to find what ways can we make ourselves more sensible to the manipulation.

Through this I have investigated the value of truth in photography and how certain manipulations of color and context can change the narrative and then emotions attained by its viewers. I have seen these manipulations, particularly when comparing photography from both the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Through this exploration I took a look at imagery from the civil rights movement, especially those imagery that were recently colorized. I took a look at how this imagery triggered emotions from all over the nation and it created a public debate on social media. I observed and took note on their response and found that:

  • Many people felt intentionally manipulated from never having access to this imagery, um

  • Some felt like the colorizing of photos changed the value of truth because in order to be colorized they would have had to pre-assume the color of one's skin and complexion, which creates a false representation entirely. 

  • And others reportedly felt that because the images were in black and white at first exposure, they felt disconnected and a lack of sensibility to the subject matter (feeling like it was harder to see these people in this context as human beings also living daily lives like the rest of us)

Civil Rights Movement

I learned that a lot of these feelings were arising because black and white photography tends to strip away reality which in result can take away a sense of time, place, and humanity. But also that the re-colorization of photos is also an act of manipulation because it can fail to show the true nature of the humans in the frame.

Black Lives Matter Movement

  1. What value of color does this imagery bring to the movement, and what identifiable factors in this imagery would be able to give context if the images were only shown in black and white? Would the clothing signify the time period? 

  2. Would the scenery? 

  3. What is the importance of knowing the time, place, and overall context?What emotions or feelings would arise if only images in black and white were shown to future generations?

An image’s setting and time is inferred from its colors.

Some of the things I found in my research was that...

Mood can also be communicated based on a photo’s color scheme. For example, a cold tone can elicit a feeling of sadness or loneliness, while a warmer tone might suggest tenderness or joy.

History of Manipulation

In history there have been many instances where people altered imagery in hopes to manipulate even before photoshop existed.  

During the Great Purges, in the late 1930s, The Soviets found a way to erase people from images especially those of Soviet politician Joseph Stalin ‘s political opponents at the hands of the secret police. Making sure that their existence was erased from all forms of pictorial existence. And later even those of comrades he found to be disloyal were also erased as well.


The Kuleshov Effect

Something that was especially insightful was taking a look at the well-known Kuleshov Effect which is a cognitive event in which viewers derive more meaning from the interaction of two sequential shots than from a single shot in isolation. 

So in other words it Shows how a facial expression followed by context gives the viewer a different sense of what is going on or what to feel. This is a visual response that we sometimes don't even realize we're doing. So for example the first image -first row tells us that this is a nice old man looking at a woman and her child, but the second row tells us that he is a dirty old man when looking at a woman in a bikini. And so on 

So with all that I know how can I manipulate imagery to evoke a specific meaning, and what might that look like?