Research 10/14-10/21: Digital Image Altering, Race, and Mirror Recognition
Updated: Dec 7, 2020
Richardson: In the era of 'deep fakes,' can we trust what we see? (2019).
Light, K. (2004, May 13). WHEN IS WHAT WE SEE NOT REALLY WHAT WE SEE? ; THE ADVENT OF DIGITAL IMAGING HAS LED TO EASY DIGITAL IMAGE ALTERING. TO MAINTAIN CREDIBILITY, THE PRINT MEDIA SHOULD BAN THE USE OF ALTERED IMAGES: [FIVE STAR LATE LIFT EDITION]. St.Louis Post - Dispatch Retrieved from http://ezproxy.montclair.edu:2048/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.montclair.edu/docview/402429795?accountid=12536
Taylor, B. (2006, Oct 01). The down side of no negative; we can't trust photographs anymore, but could we ever?; digital photo technology is making it harder and harder to trust our eyes: [ONT edition]. Toronto Star Retrieved from http://ezproxy.montclair.edu:2048/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.montclair.edu/docview/439092683?accountid=12536
As I was composing my thesis project idea about to selecting our unaltered image, I began to wonder if any image at all truly accurately represents us. The original value of photographs is that they can depict real-time images, and capture exactly what we saw. However as cameras move to digital and photo altering programs become seemingly everywhere, we may be losing that sense of trust in imagery.
Photographer Ken Light warned others of this when his 1971 photo of Senator John Kerry had resurfaced. The altered photo included Jane Fonda standing along side him at a demonstration. One of the benefits of film photography is that there is an original negative that can be used to prove what is real and what is not. However, Bill Taylor of the Toronto Star notes that with digital photography, there is no original photo. If it's not edited in photoshop, many camera's also include slight body altering features. An image could be captured in real time and look very much like the realistic version of the subject, but still not be reality. This is even more evident and exaggerated through beauty filters. Many years ago philosopher Jean Baudrillard coined the term "Simulacrum", a copy of something which is not an original. This is also known as a deceptive substitute.
The Ottawa Citizen publication explains that this phenomenon can seriously impact not just our own perceptions, but politics as well. Altering images in politics is not a new occurrence, however new technology makes it harder to decipher what's real and what's not anymore. They call this type of imagery "deep fakes"; false photographs/videos that look so real, it seems impossible for it to be fake.
Knowing this information, if I were to move forward with an exhibition in which people would select there unedited photo, I can hypothesize that many participants would not find it easy to pick out the original photo because we have adjusted to the concept of digitally altered photographs being so common in our daily lifestyles. Consumer technology association calculated that millennials on average take up 1000 photos every year per person. Combined, it results in 1 trillion photos globally. Out of all those photos taken, it's hard to imagine every one depicted an exact representation of reality.
Maxwell, M., Brevard, J., Abrams, J., & Belgrave, F. (2015). What's color got to do with it? skin color, skin color satisfaction, racial identity, and internalized racism among african american college students. Journal of Black Psychology, 41(5), 438. Retrieved: http://ezproxy.montclair.edu:2048/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.montclair.edu/docview/1709194627?accountid=12536
Thompson, M. S., & Keith, V. M. (2001). The blacker the berry: Gender, skin tone, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. Gender and Society, 15(3), 336-357. Retrieved: http://ezproxy.montclair.edu:2048/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.montclair.edu/docview/38256139?accountid=12536
Skin color is the most visible physical feature we see and plays a significant role in defining one's identity. It's also one of the hardest features to change. Society as placed a lot of value on the color of one's skin that goes as far as affecting one's obstacles in life. In western culture, a pale complexion with European facial features has always been seen as the standard of beauty. Whereas, typically a darker skin color is perceived as less attractive. Media fills us with positive images of mostly white figures and neglects to equally represent other complexions. This is also seen in doll brands, makeup products, and band-aids. An item will be labeled as nude and yet only match a small percent of the world's skin colors.
Lack of representation and positive associations can negatively impact one's feelings of self worth and feelings towards their overall body image. The stereotypes associated with darker skin colors greatly affects one's career and personal life. People are told that certain features like lighter skin and straighter hair appear more professional. Frequently in media, even if a company was trying to be more inclusive with people of color, they will often hire lighter skin black people over one's with darker skin and more typical African features. On a large scale, generations of lack of representation and being told that paler skin is superior can have severe effects on the quality of life for an entire race.
Moving forward with my project, it's important that through the exhibition all skin colors are respected and celebrated, and not an object of beautification. The goal of this project is not to make other's look "prettier" or fit a certain beauty standard in an edit compared to their original. It is simply to make oneself look slightly different to understand their perception of themselves. This is something I have to keep in mind when deciding on what types of edits I will be conducting.
Asendorpf, J. B., & Baudonniere, P. (1993). Self-awareness and other-awareness: Mirror self-recognition and synchronic imitation among unfamiliar peers. Developmental Psychology, 29(1), 88-95. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.montclair.edu:2048/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.montclair.edu/docview/57790223?accountid=12536
Jens B. Asendorpf and Pierre Marie Baudonniere of the Developmental psychology analyze cognitive capacities underlying self-awareness and other-awareness. They define self-awareness as being able to evaluate appearances and actions in terms of their own and other's standards. They then define other awareness by having awareness of other's intentions, motivations, and emotions and using this for social interaction. A common experiment used on children to understand the developmental process of these concepts is the Mirror Self Recognition Test. Each child is marked with rouge on their face and analyzed by how they interact with the mark in the mirror. Behaviors directed at the mark rather than directed at the mirror or no reaction at all, infer that the child is aware that the image in the mirror is themselves. This is an important step in self-awareness and other awareness. Around the age of 18 months - two years old is when a child is able to recognize themselves in the mirror. At this age, they also begin to understand self objectification; being able to form a mental model of oneself that can be manipulated in fantasy.
I thought this information was important to research because we discuss the concept of mirror reflection frequently throughout this thesis project. Yet humans and apes are the only species that can fully recognize themselves in the mirror. We are not only able to look at our physical body, but we look at our fantasy self as the article describes it, visualizing aspects of who we want to be in our reflection. It's a unique cognitive ability that researches are still learning more about, yet occurs in our brains at such a young age. This ability goes hand-in-hand with our ability to create beauty goals for ourselves when we look in the mirror.
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