Photoshop Reflection

As a student in the Media Literacy and Digital Culture program at Sacred Heart University, I was assigned the task of Photoshopping images and reflecting on the process. For this reason, I have Photoshopped the above photo five times. The original photograph above is a seemingly original photograph of a group of men known as The Rat Pack. They were predominantly famous in Las Vegas for music and film during the early 1960’s. These members had strong ties within the social justice community and used their fame as an outlet for positive social change. Although I would not be surprised if this photo has been filtered in one way or another, it is worth mentioning that the purpose of what I am offering is a reflection on what I decided to Photoshop on to this image. Considering the amount to which the photo has most likely been circulated on the internet, it is hard to know what the image from the original camera looks like. This is why it is important to examine the meaning behind altered images and what we may or may not want to see as truthful.

Above the heads of The Rat Pack there is a billboard above them with the names of each person. The members are Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. I chose five different slogans to replace the billboard and each slogan has meaning in regards to social justice within the past and the immediate future. Once I learned the Photoshopping technique I used, it helped me to know why understanding the construction of images is crucial to becoming visually literate. Photoshopping is frowned upon for different reasons, but what I am offering can act as proof that the process can be used ethically as well.

For each image that I Photoshopped I used one specific process. I found an image online which is unoriginal to myself and saved it to my computer. I opened it in the Photoshop application after opening the original Rat Pack photo. I used the move tool, pressed command A to highlight the whole image, command C to copy the image, and command V to paste the new image on to the area near the billboard above everyone’s heads. I was able to fit the image to meet the dimensions of the billboard with great ease. Once I knew how this worked, it took approximately three to five minutes to alter each of the five photographs. The reason for this explanation is to reveal the speed at which Photoshopping can be accomplished. When I think about the amount of photographs that are available on the internet today, it makes me wonder if there are legitimate ethical rules for Photoshopping, or will the rules be too hard to find after filtering through online photographs? In the interest of discussing my own Photoshopping ethics, lets look at the photo below:

“Make America Great Again” is the campaign slogan of our current president, Donald J. Trump. Although his administration claims to be working for the people, they are seemingly unraveling the social work of our former president Barrack Obama. Since the election, many have become disheartened over the lack of social justice among Trump’s administration in terms of basic human rights, climate change, immigration, religion, and gender. River Clegg from The New Yorker noted,

“Feeling like you’re part of a community is great. That sense of belonging, you know? On some level, it’s what we’re all looking for. But there’s a catch: that feeling depends on the existence of an outcast group—people who don’t, who can’t belong to your community. Without them, the group you belong to will be rendered formless, robbed of its definition and meaning. Selecting the “other” against which your group will derive its identity, then, is of vital importance. How will you decide? Will it be based on skin color? Gender? Religious differences? National origin? Yes. All of those. Great!” (Clegg, 3).

The reason I covered the billboard with the “Make America Great Again” sign is because I am intrigued by celebrity activism. By using an old photo of famous celebrities from the 60’s, it is obvious how different it is to send that kind of message rather than how a celebrity today, for example, would post on their social media accounts. First of all, many liberally-minded celebrities would not be in favor of Trump’s slogan, which leads me to ask, if the members of the Rat Pack were here today, would they agree with this PhotoShop decision? The answer is most likely not, unless it symbolized their ideas of how to truly make America great again. This makes me question how I would feel if someone posted a Photoshopped picture of me without my knowledge.

Black Lives Matter may have began as a hashtag, but it quickly evolved into a powerful movement. Russell Rickford for New Labor Forum wrote, “The upsurge, which has centered on the crucial, galvanizing issue of police misconduct, also shows signs of addressing larger questions of social inequity” (Rickford, 2). It is my assumption that Sammy Davis Jr. would have supported the Black Lives Matter movement as someone who was active in the Civil Rights Movement, March on Washington, desegregation of Las Vegas night clubs, and entering his own interracial marriage at a time where it was an issue (Bio Editors, 2). However, we do not know if he would agree with my aesthetics, size, or presentation. Jeff Share, author of the book Media Literacy is Elementary, wrote a fascinating chapter called “Photography As Pedagogy With Praxis.” In the chapter he emphasizes the subjectivity of photography, “Photographs, no matter how realistic they look, are always a subjective representation, shaped by the photographer’s choices of who and what to photograph, as well as the context of how, when, where, and why to take the picture” (Cappello & Hollingsworth, 2008; Share, 2003) (Share, 149). Something to be concerned about is that my newly constructed versions of the Rat Pack photograph will be accessible to anyone in the world who has access to internet once I publish this very blog post. Fortunately, they are given context through language which seemingly makes the images slightly more ethical because of necessary descriptions.

I chose an “Equal Work Deserves Equal Pay” sign because the lack of equality in pay among gender and ethnicities is a troublesome topic in society today. In his article “Equal Employment Opportunities: The Promises of the 60’s—The Reality of the 70’s,” James E Jones Jr said, “It has become the vogue in the last several years to meet almost any criticism regarding racial inequalities in a given community with a recitation of the great progress which has been made in civil rights over the last decade” (Jones Jr, 1). This statement feels more true today than ever because the above mentioned “Make America Great Again” slogan is not referring to progressive change in terms of social justice, but rather business pursuits that can benefit the upper class. Luckily, more than ever, society has something to say about it, especially celebrities. The original Rat Pack photo has Sammy Davis Jr.’s name in red even though everybody else is in black. Therefore, it is further emphasizing the equality that was starting to take place during that time.

In terms of racial and pay equality, my guess is that Sammy Davis Jr would approve of the ethical message behind this photograph, even if not the speed at which I Photoshopped the image. The interesting aspect of this newly constructed image is that it just so happens to have a more old fashioned color palette, which therefore makes it more believable to be true. In his chapter, Share asks, “Why do people give photographs such power and believe almost anything they see? Is it the fact that photographs are created using machinery and science, or is it simply that photographs look so real that common sense convinces us to believe what we see?” (Share, 152). In my case, I would have thought this was the most realistic image before learning about visual literacy and Photoshop. Now I will ask questions and there inlays the point.

The phrase “Vegas Strong” stems from the awful massacre on October 1st, 2017 at open festival grounds in Las Vegas, Nevada. It symbolizes the urge to unite as a nation after such tragedy. This phrase is relevant to the Rat Pack because their fame was built in Las Vegas casino life. If the massacre occurred in the 1960’s it could have been their performance where the tragedy occurred. Although I can not speak for any of the members, maybe they would have become activists for stronger gun laws. What would they have thought about this tragic event? Would there have been a better or worse probability of this happening during the time period the picture was taken?

Due to my ability to alter each one of these photographs, it makes me think about the significance of constructing my own photographs. Share and Pineda emphasize a point that taking pictures helps students to create their own story, engage in the process, and pull different experiences out of them (Share, 100). When photographs are used as a gateway to stimulus for writing purposes, they support complex thinking (Cappello and Hollingsworth, 448) (Share, 100). For instance, the addition of the “Vegas Strong” sign helps me to think about the message I was trying to send which is that altered photographs should have ethical boundaries, but they can be used in a positive way. In my case, this newly constructed image helps me to think about the important connection between gun laws and uniting as a nation in the time of tragedy. The historical context helps me to think about this in a different way and if it was just the sign itself I may not have.

Film producer Harvey Weinstein has faced numerous allegations of sexual harassment for nearly three decades (Campo, 1). Catherine Campo for CNBC wrote, “These allegations have set off a ripple effect, empowering people who say they also were victims to come forward with stories of abuse by people in power (Campo, 1). There is significance of a group like the Rat Pack, five men to be exact, standing in front of a sign that says “#MeToo.” My construction of the image helps me to think about gender equality and how celebrities in Hollywood are standing up for themselves which is helping others in the world stand up for themselves. The act of explaining my construction of the image helps it feel more ethical. Considering the potent nature of images and how quickly they are visually deciphered, I wish I know about an existing way to make sure text and context is always paired with an altered photograph.

Share and Berger make a strong point about marginalization, “This objectification of people through art and photography has been especially pernicious for people of color, women, and the poor, who have traditionally been represented as less than, othered, exotic, or sexual objects to be looked upon” (Berger, 1977) (Share, 164). The important thing to know here is that there are people in the world who are underrepresented and the popular and pervasive nature of photography has the ability to change that. Although it seems a little too easy to look up a photograph of a “#MeToo” slogan, it makes me want to stress the importance of slowing down the viewing process by adding context through language. This way PhotoShop can be used ethically to send messages about positive social change.

. . .

The process of choosing photographs and Photoshopping them has taught me the controversial nature of constructed media images. In one way, I feel as though purity of photographs is something of the past, but in another way I feel that constructed images can be used for good. For instance, it is not a good feeling to know that while searching for an image there is a high probability you will not be looking at the original photo. However, a media educator or activist can construct their own lesson while using powerful visual images to create meaning. Visuals are powerful and even though I have biases as an art teacher I have to admit that I seem to get more out of lessons that have a visual element attached to them. Images help me to analyze something in a different way and add to my own experience and understanding. Share titles a section in his chapter, “Connecting Academics to the World beyond the Classroom.” He notes, “Motivation increases, and academics become more meaningful when students make connections between the world around them and the academic content they are learning inside the classroom. The camera can be an ideal tool to bridge this gap between students’ lives and academic concepts” (Share, 164).

Clegg, River. “Great Again.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 6 July 2017, www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/great-again.

Rickford, Russell. “Black Lives Matter: Toward a Modern Practice of Mass Struggle.” New Labor Forum, 20 May 2016, newlaborforum.cuny.edu/2015/12/28/black-lives-matter-practice-of-mass-struggle/.

Biography Editors “Sammy Davis Jr.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017, www.biography.com/people/sammy-davis-jr-9268223.

Share, Jeff. Media Literacy Is Elementary. “Photography as Pedagogy with Praxis.” Center For Media Literacy, 2002.

E., Jones Jr. James. “Equal Employment Opportunities: The Promises of the 60's -The Reality of the 70's - EScholarship.” National Black Law Journal, 1 Jan. 1972, escholarship.org/uc/item/8n98864n.

Campo, Catherine. “The Weinstein Ripple Effect: Famous Men Accused of Sexual Harassment and Assault.” CNBC, CNBC, 22 Nov. 2017, www.cnbc.com/2017/10/26/the-weinstein-ripple-effect-famous-men-accused-of-sexual-harassment-and-assault.html.