Tampa Photography Blog

Where does the “altering” end when it comes to digital photography?

When you’re trained to be a newspaper photojournalist, you are given certain rules to abide by. One of them is don’t alter your digital image so much that it looks nothing like the original. Many photographers and sometimes editors have made the news themselves by ignoring this rule for the sake of making a “better” photograph.

I will admit there is a huge gray area so it is sometimes hard to know what’s acceptable and what’s not. Removing people from photos is NOT.

The Dominion Post in Morgantown, West Virginia took it upon themselves to alter Martin Valent's photo (he works for the West Virginia Legislative Reference and Information Center). The editor of the paper, Geri Ferrara, is under fire for her decision that she continues to defend.

The photo in question is of Governor Joe Manchin seated with a pen signing “Erin’s Law”, named after a WVU student (Erin Keener) who died in a hit and run accident. The original photo includes two members of Keener’s family and three delegates with the Governor. The newspaper removed the delegates from the photo because of “the newspaper's policy not to publish pictures of candidates running for re-election during the political season."

Ferrara said her decision is just because she labeled the photo a “photo illustration”. She is truly stretching the definition of the word. Webopedia defines it as “a type of computer art that begins with a digitized photograph. Using special image enhancement software, the artist can then apply a variety of special effects to transform the photo into a work of art.” View the story here and decide if Ferrara has created a “work of art”.

The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) keeps a watchful eye over all newspapers, journalists and editors. They wrote to Ferrara and stated their disappointment in her decision. "Find an alternative to lying," NPPA's letter to Ferrara said. "If the there are no other photos available of this event, then do not run any photo at all or run a head-shot of the governor if you have to run something. You must value your integrity above all else. All other considerations or excuses pale in comparison."