Truth in Photos

No matter how you say it digitally modified photographs are lies, but we accept it as media as long as we know what is real and what is not. For instance just like when we watch a fictional movie we know that it’s not true and therefore we will take the ideas in it differently. Similarly when photographs are being modified, as long as it’s done right its acceptable. For instance if presenting a model poster I think it would be acceptable that these posters are modified as one who obtained this poster only has obtained it as decor object of say a beautiful woman, he hasn’t ever seen her and therefore has no concern what she actually looks like as long as the poster looks good. On the other hand if we have a situation of the photograph modification is presented to hide some vital information then it should be (and in most cases is) illegal. I am talking about cases like if a skin product has been advertised it should be illegal to digitally modify the model, as this would be false advertising. Same thing could go to any photographs (or media in general) that tries to conceal an essential truth by hiding or modifying information

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Medium is the massage

People are full of Ideas and thoughts that we acquire all the time. We are not empty on the inside however if we have no way to output whattever we have within us then all this potential and all these thoughts they disapear in vain. "we are helped by what is not, to use what is" McLuhan. With the need for an outlet of our thoughts, ideas and emotions mediums were invented. Hollow mediums that are filled with our human substance. Without it books would be nothing more then blanck pages, and language would be nothing more then an assembly of meaningless sounds. I think this is what McLuhan is trying to show in his book, that media is what defines us as humans because all media are outlets of what we have inside, therefore it is the message.

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Simulacra and Simulations

Well, this was an interesting 24 pages of mumble jumble. I don't quite understand what they are talking about. Even some of the words were difficult to understand and by the time I looked a word up in the dictionary, I forgot what I was reading. I was just overall frustrated. The only bit I sort of understood or what I have thought to understand from the reading is that signs and symbols have replaced meaning and reality. I don't know does any one know. This is definitely something you have to read over and over again and I am just not into this reading at all to do that. Please can someone help me understand this more clearly?

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Simulacra and Simulations

Well this is deffinatly a different text from what we have been reading. I'm finding that with this text there are alot (and I mean ALOT) of words I have never seen before and do not understand at all. I have looked some up in the dictionary and that helps to a certain extent. This is deffinatly the most difficult read I think we have had this year, I think it requires us to read it not once or twice but three or four times to even begin to understand it. But anyway all that aside, I did find an interesting point in this reading. I found the discussion pertaining to someone faking a disease or sickness interesting. What I found interesting was the fact that if a person simulates the symptoms of a sickness to the point they actually appear to have the sickness then do they not actually have the sickness? If they are exhibiting symptoms is that not what determines whether they have it or not? I dont know I just found that interesting thought I'd throw it out there. Cheers.

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The Medium is... different

I have to say reading the Medium is the Massage was a very different experience from a standard text. I found it interesting how the author used a mixture of imagery and text make his point. Sometimes using one or the other, other times just tiny bits of each. I guess the way its presented can send a different message.

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Medium is the Massage

If you read the book not knowing when it was written you might think it was written today. The ideas and themes in the book are all still very relevent. The term "global village" is still widely used. I don't think McLuhan was making a grand statment. Media is a part of everything we do. The messages sent and the way that they are sent have changed our lifestyles so drastically. McLuhan states that "Our official culture is striving to force the new media to do the work of the old." (p.94) This statment resonates today with the internet, we get much of our information, news and entertainment from the web. We talk on msn probably more often than we talk on the phone. Our reltionships with others is more consistant but less organic. Sure kids talk to your friends online all the time, but do kids "call on" each other anymore? The way we communicate has adapted to the form in which we communicate in. Grammar has taken a backseat to acronyms and emoticons. If this book was updated for 2007...would it still have the same message? I think so.

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The truth in music and pictures

When I first hear a song I usually notice the beat first and the lyrics second if I enjoy the beat. A lot of songs I hear tend to have more upbeat tempos but lyrics that relate to more serious issues or some personal. Like Lindsay was saying, some songs have upbeat dancing rythyms but lyrics that do not follow that kind of happy melody. I think its make the lyrics seem less personal and intense.
I really enjoyed the pictures of the models and actresses that have been airbrushed because it shows that everyone has flaws, even the most beautiful individual has something to hide. But I do feel the airbrushing makes people think they have something to hide and that having flaws makes you less beautiful, which is something I think our society has trained us to think. So in a way I think some pictures can tell the truth, such as insecurities of one's self, and in another way pictures can lie like hiding one's flaws.

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On the topic of music and truth, I thought of a really good example where the words and music do not correspond. The song " Don't Feel Like Dancing" by Scissor Sisters is a great example that follows this type of truth/lie debate.

Here are the lyrics:
Wake up in the morning with a head like 'what ya done?' This used to be the life but I don't need another one. Good luck cuttin' nothin', carrying on, you wear them gowns. So how come I feel so lonely when you're up getting down? So I play along when I hear that favourite song I'm gonna be the one who gets it right. You better know when you're swingin' round the room Look's like magic's solely yours tonight But I don't feel like dancin' When the old Joanna plays My heart could take a chance But my two feet can't find a way You think that I could muster up a little soft, shoop devil sway But I don't feel like dancin' No sir, no dancin' today. Don't feel like dancin', dancin' Even if i find nothin' better to do Don't feel like dancin', dancin' Why'd you break down when I'm not in the mood? Don't feel like dancin', dancin' Rather be home with no one when I can't get down with you Cities come and cities go just like the old empires When all you do is change your clothes and call that versatile. You got so many colours make a blind man so confused. Then why can't I keep up when you're the only thing I lose? So I'll just pretend that I know which way to bend And I'm gonna tell the whole world that you're mine. Just please understand, when I see you clap your hands If you stick around I'm sure that you'll be fine. But I don't feel like dancin' When the old Joanna plays My heart could take a chance But my two feet can't find a way You think that I could muster up a little soft, shoop devil sway But I don't feel like dancin' No sir, no dancin' today. Don't feel like dancin', dancin' Even if i find nothin' better to do Don't feel like dancin', dancin' Why'd you break down when I'm not in the mood? Don't feel like dancin', dancin' Rather be home with no one when I can't get down with you You can't make me dance around But your two-step makes my chest pound. Just lay me down as you blow it away into the shimmer light. But I don't feel like dancin' When the old Joanna plays My heart could take a chance But my two feet can't find a way You think that I could muster up a little soft, shoop devil sway But I don't feel like dancin' No sir, no dancin' today. Don't feel like dancin', dancin' Even if i find nothin' better to do Don't feel like dancin', dancin' Why'd you break down when I'm not in the mood? Don't feel like dancin', dancin' Rather be home with no one when I can't get down with you...

The music fit to these lyrics has an up-beat feel. There is a strong back beat, disco-like, that makes it easy for body movements to correspond to. The rhythm is repetitive, which is suitable for dancing. How can anyone not feel like dancing to this type of music?

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The Medium is the Massage

I thought this book was really interesting to read and look at. I found the pictures went with the words after reading the passages and quotes that they were made to connect with. I also thought Marshall McLuhans point of views were really interesting and packed full with truth. For example, "The wheel is the extention of the foot, the book is an extention of the eye.. ect." These types of quotes were a cool way to look at things, the wheel is not LITERALLY an extention of the foot but it is in a way connected of the foot because the foot pushes the petal which controls the wheel. I found the words and the photography in this book really interesting

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Truth in music

I thought it was interesting how music can say two different things. The lyrics say one thing but the music betrays it. The lyrics maybe can represent what people hear but the music is your real feelings. A song can be meaningful to you or remind you of someone or something but it still has an intended meaning. Just because the song reminds you of your "ex-husband" doesn't literally mean the song is about your ex. Isn't that what good music does though, make you feel a connection with it? Anyway in our last tutorial we were asked to think of songs that had lyrics and music that had different meanings...so here's mine...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQB3AptIOHc

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Truth in Pictures

So we use photos like eye witness accounts of what happened in a situation. As if the instant the picture is taken captures the truth of the whole situation. But photos can't tell us the details that we need to know to truly identify the truth. The example Michael used in class was an ATM camera taking a photo of a woman taking out money. The photo then can be used t say that the woman banked at that bank. However, we don't truly know that the woman banks at that bank or whether she needed cash fast and decided to go to the nearest bank machine.

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Fixed Photos

Well, that website was a HUGE confidence booster!!! After looking at those altered pics of celebrities, I feel a heck of a lot better about myself and the way I look in pics! hahaha That guy fixed anything and everything. The perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect boobs, perfect butts...they're not perfect at all!!! According to those photos, they are either fake, or photo-shopped! He made some of those girls go from crack head to super model (well, maybe not QUITE that severely, but you get the point). For me, the only truth in those photographs was how TRULY talented that guy is hahaha.

However, I don't know that I would say that about all photographs. Like a few other people have said, what about a candid shot, taken at a party or out in public? I don't think that those pictures are "lying", especially if they haven't been altered. While they may not give a full, perfect depiction of the situation or the person being captured on camera, I generally think that whatever they are showing is truthful, at least some degree.

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Photography

It is interesting to look at what some view as beautiful. Personally, I agree with my classmate who said that some of the original photos that haven’t been tampered with came across as more “real” (as real as some celebs can look with their botox and plastic surgery…hehe). Now that there is technology such as digital cameras, different lenses, computers, and makeup techniques anyone can look flawless, but in reality to the naked eye, not even the most beautiful person is perfect. In the end, it’s all about advertising and selling something. I am sure all of us girls and guys have been suckered into the beautifying products.

I think that photos that are taken randomly (such as at a party or some type of event) probably tell more of the truth because the photo captures “the moment” and feelings, their expressions etc. These types of photos are usually your everyday photos where we don’t smooth out the cellulite from our friends thighs. Whereas posing for a photo is more of an act and doesn’t necessarily capture true feelings that are honest and the pictures can also be altered to change a look or facial expression. The most truthful photography is probably like some of the black and white photos of history that we viewed. With some of these photos and also with other photos you can almost put yourself in their shoes. You can read/sense the fear, anger, hopelessness in their eyes. However, some of the black and white photos also have been modified and that is where reality has been altered.

So can photos tell the truth? I still am undecided on that question. I only know the pictures I am in and the pictures I have taken to be the truth.

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End of year assignment

Well I know I can say for myself atleast that the last lecture we had was deffinatly interesting, perhaps more interesting that ones we have sat through in the past. I found that beacuse it was something more applicable to day to day life it encouraged more discussion, especially in our tutorial. I think poeple found it more interesting and this was more than likely the reason for the increased discussion. However, onto more important topics like our final project. I have been looking through my notes from over the course of the year and I cannot seem to choose a topic which would be worthy of a longer essay. So, I was thinking along the lines of incorperating everything (or most of everything) we have studied this year. I was curious if anyone could provide any ideas as to how to do this? Or even some suggestions to get me started on chosing a topic would be fantastic. If anyone actually read this (haha) thanks guys.

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Airbrushed Photos/ Old War Photos

It is interested to see how many little details they change when airbrushing a photo. The "before" pictures make them look more "realistic" and natural... more human. One of my favorites is the third photo of Alicia Keys... They even edited her hair! (Look closely at the left side of her locks). With airbrushing, they do a lot of fine tuning... such as smoothing out the elbows, back, stomach and breasts... in a couple they also enhanced a couple of breasts. I also noticed that they change and brighten eye colour a lot... especially for those who have brown eyes. Anything unwanted is removed... anything wanted is put in to the photo.

I dont see how these photos tell truth... The Airbrushed models I guess are a type of exaggerated truth... It is still them, however slightly altered. The old war photos still caputure a past event... although Trosky is removed. The photograph still holds truth of Lenin's speech... however does not show the truth of Trosky and Lenin's close relationship.

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Photos

After looking at those photos where you could see the original as well as the doctored one, I was amazed. Some of the photos dont have much change, like the original looks pretty much the same with a little shading or something, but some of them didn't even look like the same photo at all. Many of the originals were obviously not as good as the doctored ones, but some were just horrible. Some of the originals had horrible lighting and some of the people looked like there were not models at all. It's amazing to see how much they can change a simple photo to make it look completly different. Its also interesting to see how they actually do the changes. Like in some of the photos you can see they actually move the waves of the water around or remove pieces of hair or change entire backgrounds.

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Truth in Photos

I looked at most of those air brushed photos, honestly I liked most of them better before the air brushing. They look too enhanced. Some are convincing enough to make people believe that the models do not have blemishes, cellulite etc. I think that people have to be aware that those pictures you see in a magazine are not reality, they are selling a fantasy.

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