Weblog #6: March 8, 2005

    As I began working on my image assignment, I used a picture of Buffalo Bill that I found in the American Memory collection and made a number of alterations in his appearance including shortening the length of his hair and removing the "crows feet" around his eyes. I know, of course, from a historian's or a journalist's perspective, such changes are unethical and perhaps even illegal. However, it did occur to me that, if a novice like me can make alterations that, to the inexperienced eye, may not be detectable, what can a Photoshop expert do?
     I have seem references to "doctored photos" in accounts of events as far back as the 1950s, long before the existence of personal computers and Photoshop. In the old Soviet Union, when a leader fell from favor, his image in group photographs would mysteriously disappear. In the the hands of someone not hindered by ethical considerations, a tool as sophisticated as Photoshop could be the source of a lot of mischief. It makes you wonder whether those photos you see in the National Inquirer of aliens and living Elvises are really legitimate.