An important part of media and information literacy is visual. In a digital age, with so much information presented in a visual format, the ability to detect a fake or altered image is an invaluable skill. First, it’s important to understand how photographs are altered.
Cropped Photos May Send a Different Message
The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words may be true, but the opposite is also true. What is cropped out of the picture may tell more than a thousand words.
For example, the pictures in this article begin with a close-up view, with only the focal point of a portrait showing. The next photograph shows more detail, adding a bit of humor. The third photograph, with the expanded, view gives a completely different story than the first photo, by including the setting.
Some Photos Are Deliberately Faked
Some people use Photoshop or other editing programs to create pictures that appear real, but are intended as a joke or are even a deliberate hoax. One famous hoax that circulated on the Internet for some time was the picture of the giant cat that pawed its way through email boxes for years. The linked article describes how the photo was digitally altered.
What is Digital Forensics?
Digital forensics is the specialized field dedicated in part to the science of uncovering photographic, audio, video, and computer fraud. Unfortunately, fraudulent photographs have been discovered in magazines, newspapers, and even in academic papers and studies. In some cases, fake photos have had legal repercussions for the persons responsible.
Scientific American published an article written by Harry Farid in the June 2008 issue detailing some of the key techniques used to spot the fakes. The author states in his article, that even as the technology of digital forensics advances, the perpetrators of image fraud develop software to circumvent detection. It’s a cat and mouse game that promises to continue for some time.
How to Develop Visual Literacy
Learning about art techniques and photographic techniques can help a person detect image fraud. If the lighting is incongruent, or the perspective is off, it’s possible that the photo is digitally remastered. Sometimes, even with an art background the altered picture is so well done that it’s hard to know if it’s genuine or not. In that case, there are websites that are devoted to detecting Internet hoaxes and urban legends.
One of those sites is Snopes. This site offers a comprehensive, searchable database of the stories and pictures circulating by email, social media, and websites. After researching these items, it gives a written verdict as to whether the item in question is real or a hoax.
In the end, skepticism may be the best strategy when it comes to photographs. If it looks too amazing to be true, then it probably is a fake.
More information about digital visual literacy is available in Visual Communication Literacy Development.
For basic information, read What is Information Literacy? and What is Media Literacy?
Suzanne Pitner - Suzanne Pitner is a teacher and published writer. A member of RWA and YARWA, she writes fiction as Suzanne Lilly.
Join the Conversation