Pictures that lie

The article that I read was quite inspiring and helped me came up with my idea. This article I found from the database Academic Search Complete talked about how in France there was a marketing campaign going on in order to use image alteration to ban all images of tobacco. They replaced tobacco images with kids windmills. They talked about how this influences french cinema and they also became part of the controversy and campaign. Therefore, one can analyze that as much as image alteration can be hazardous in many ways to society, people nowadays are finding positive ways to use this fantastic tool.


Roddick, Nick. "Pipe dreams." Sight & Sound 19.7 (2009): 14. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.


The picture that I chose to do was a quite entertaining one with a subtle message and a personal approach to it. I used many pictures, three of them are layers and they were all taken by me because its a picture of my cousin, my uncle and me. The background picture was part of one of my favorite's photographer's, Annie Lebovitz,  Disney series. I used various tools to manipulate, first of all I had three different layers and each layer is altered in many ways. I changed saturation and lightness in two layers and then merged them down so that they only changed the layer in question. I added two text layers to give the picture that personal approach and meaning and I deleted part of the original text by coloring in the color of the background on top. I used the eraser tool a lot, I also used the blur tool, the selection tool and I changed the opacity in every layer. I decided to manipulate this picture because first of all the composition of this caricature background is amazing and it brings back memories from when I was very young. The underlining idea is that people are always looking for approval "beyond the mirror" and this is portrayed in fantasy stories we hear since we are children. I decided to continue with this fairy tale and grant the happiness to a beautiful little girl instead of the evil witch because although many of this made up stories are exaggerated they still have that element that good beats bad above all. Unfortunately, I am the witch in this alteration, but it fits quite right since I am smiling therefore I approve of the beauty of this little girl. This manipulation is not harmful if it is not published because the original background is part of a famous photographer's work, therefore it would be infringement of copyrights, but besides that it is not harmful just entertaining and meaningful in a way. Finally, it relates to the article I read because in both image manipulation cases one is trying to alter the message sent to childhood by altering the original intended message. In this case we are banning tobacco and shallow superficiality and creating childish positive messages of no tobacco in the media and society, and happily ever afters.