The Visual Image- Analyzing the Photographic Image - Use of Design- What is truth?

Design Elements

Line (direction created) Shape & Form (outline - 2D & volume -3D) Space (positive and negative) Texture (surface quality) Colour (symbolic, choice of…) Viewpoint (not an actual element of art)

Line

Shape & Form

Space

Texture

Colour

Viewpoint

Line

Shape & Form

Space

Texture

Colour

Viewpoint

Line

Shape & Form

Space

Texture

Colour

Viewpoint

Design Principles

Balance (symmetry, asymmetry, all over) Contrast (visual and thematic differences) Unity (individual parts make up whole) Emphasis (focal point or focus) Movement (directs viewers through work) Pattern (through repetition)

Balance

Contrast

Unity

Emphasis

Movement

Pattern

Balance

Contrast

Unity

Emphasis

Movement

Pattern

Balance

Contrast

Unity

Emphasis

Movement

Pattern

Analyzing Photographs

Find an effective (grabs your attention in some way) ad on the internet (or in a magazine) which has a photograph as its main focus. Answer the following questions:

Which design elements and principles are most important to the photographs success and why?

What is the purpose of the photograph? Who is the target audience for the ad?

How are the men/women/objects portrayed? How might this influence the audience?

What values or messages are emphasized?

Photographic Truth http://homepage.mac.com/

gapodaca/digital/bikini/bikini2.html

http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/kerry2.asp

http://www.autodesk.com/eng/etc/fakeorfoto/quiz.html

http://www.autodesk.com/eng/etc/fakeorfoto/v1/index.html

Digital manipulation can add credibility to urban legends and hoaxes. In the days following the horrific attack of the World Trade Center, a photo of a tourist being photographed just seconds before the tragedy was widely circulated. Supposedly, the camera containing the shot was found in the rubble of the twin towers.

It didn't take long to discover that this image was from the "Tourist Guy" Web site -- a digitally manipulated "Where's Waldo" photo gallery of the hapless tourist plunked into a wide variety of historical and humorous scenarios.

Photographic Truth in the Digital Era

During the trial of O.J. Simpson, Time magazine received widespread criticism for manipulating a cover photograph of O.J. Simpson's police mug shot -- intentionally altered to make Simpson look darker and more menacing. Not only were there concerns regarding Simpson's right to a fair trial, but these images also fed public debate about racial stereotyping.

The September 1994 issue of Mirabella featured a beautiful cover model with a caption that read "Who is the Face of America?"It turned out that the "face of America" appearing on the cover was not one model, but a composite picture that was created by combining six pictures of six different women.

Digital manipulation also feeds political humour. Since September 11th, the Internet has been flooded with digitally enhanced parodies -- most often at Osama Bin Laden's expense. Images like "Dr. Evil and Mini Bin" and George Bush as "The Turbanator" are just a few of the hundreds of digitally enhanced images that have been making the rounds via e-mail.

Lenin & Trotsky Changing Historical Records

Lenin addresses the troops in this famous 1920 photo - when Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party in Nov. 1927, subsequent versions of this photograph have Trotsky and Kamenev painted out (or the photo was cropped). The original never appeared again in Russian publications.