The Journal

Issue date: 11/2/06 Section: LifeStyle

BARRETT

The photos that appear in a newspaper or magazine may not be the photos that were actually taken. They could have been altered.

To help learn about photo altering, Bill Barrett, photography professor and chairman in the electronic and photographic media department and the director of the May Gallery, presented a lecture titled "Can a photo tell the truth" Oct. 31 in the Emerson Library Conference Room.

Barrett's lecture focused on the techniques of photo alteration over time.

"From the very invention of photography, fakes have been out there," Barrett said.

Barrett said before the possibility of computer alteration, a photographer would take a print of the picture and airbrush something in or out.

Barrett said altering a photo is now easier than ever before with the help of Photoshop.

Barrett also talked about photo illustration as a way to alter photographs.

"Photo illustrations are the most common way to describe an altered photo," Barrett said.

A photo illustration can be anything from changing the shading on a photo to using a different body for someone's head. Barrett's example of photo illustrations included a magazine depiction of Oprah Winfrey's head on another woman's body.

Barrett also said another form of photo illustration is to have multiple photo shoots with different people and then compile them all together. For this illustration, Barrett showed a cover of People magazine. The cover featured women who have survived breast cancer. Barrett said there were five different photo shoots with the women, which was then combined into one photo.

Barrett also discussed the ethics of photojournalism. Barrett said the code of ethics that photographers follow started around the 1940s. He said the ethical code is to tell the truth of the photograph and to avoid photo alteration.

Laura Albers, a marketing and advertising graduate student, helped organize the lecture.

Albers said she thought this lecture was important because the media and the images the public sees can persuade someone how to think.

"It's important to educate yourself and have a better understanding of the media because it can distort what you see," Albers said.

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