How Much is Too Much?

Today i was just taking a few minutes to see what was happening in the news on yahoo.com. I saw an article that they posted today about the severe amount of photoshopping and retouching that was done to the cover of Vouge with Lady Gaga. I know this is a focus of debate, and has been for a really long time now, but i thought this particular case was interesting! Aside from the actual issue of the cover not looking like Lady Gaga's true form and the issues people have with that... it's a super cool image! I think the way they altered the photo makes it look like a piece of art, rather than a regular photo cover. What do you guys think? Which is better.. Realistic or Artistic?

The Reality of Photographs

Well, this is my first blog! I'm not sure exactly what i'm supposed to be blogging about, i suppose anything will work! Ideas, thoughts, anything that has captured my attention? This week i've been thinking an awful lot about something that i read in a textbook for one of my other classes. It talked about how much trust we put in a photograph. When i was reading this i thought to myself... well yes.. a photograph is real. But is it? The text noted that the photograph can be manipulated in how it is taken, what the photographer includes or doesn't include and how the scene is shot. It taught me to think more critically about photographs now, and i thought that could be something to share. Alot of the students that are in this class are also in the class that we had to read that text for, but i thought i'd share for those of you who aren't!

An example would be the above image, which is also from the textbook. Weegee ( Arthur Felig), The First Murder, before 1945. This is a photograph of women and schoolchildren as they looked at a murder scene. You can see a women crying, a women looking away, a little girl looking horrified. This is a perfect example of what the photograph doesn't include. There is no shot of the crime scene, just of the crowd. Definitely taught me that taking an unexpected angle can lead to a more impactful image.

Textbook : Practices of Looking, An Introduction to Visual Culture by Marita Sturken & Lisa Cartwright