As stated in the conversation with Susan Meiselas, documentary photos are very strong ways of capturing an event, whether it be a more localized situation or a large historical event. These photos can be valuable in telling a realistic story of what happened in that moment. Because these photos are directly tied to historical events and documentary, it is crucial that the correct information is displayed, and not tweaked by the photographer or publisher in any way. I believe that in order for a photo to represent a true piece of history, it cannot be manipulated. These manipulations can cause a warping in the truthfulness of the photo, and create a sense of distrust towards the source. For example, the photos that we viewed in class of various military setups in a barren landscape were found to be manipulated by the photographer, using methods such as color grading to distort the real look of the image. While I feel that color grading isn't typically that harmful to the truthful storytelling of a photo, I do feel that direct manipulation of objects and scenery, such as the removal/addition of objects, can become very misleading. This was the case with those photos. Our in-class discussion got pretty heated on this topic, with a lot of varying opinions on the topic. As I said, I feel that slight color adjustments and correction is okay, but manipulation of the physical world captured in the photo would destroy the original integrity of the photo.
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