Project Self-analysis-Pictures That Lie

I chose to manipulate a picture of a swimmer in the ocean.I altered the image to include a shark fin, and thus made a point about swimming safety.The photo originated on a flickr account (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1202/1356504891_71eb4407fd.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/mfaisco/1356504891/&usg=__mhF5z5M1hmAsVouKnMfmKdgaCP8=&h=319&w=500&sz=100&hl=en&start=39&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=1j7zhoemYZnClM:&tbnh=83&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dswimmer%2Bocean%26start%3D21%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D21%26tbs%3Disch:1)as a set of photos by Manuel Faisco. The photo was changed into the black and white scale in order to match the inserted fin. The shark fin was taken from a resized photograph on a blog by dholman (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://dholman.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/howard-sokol-shark-fin.jpg&imgrefurl=http://dholman.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/surfing-jaws-and-the-search-for-truth/&usg=__yH-rabYhnVKIRGbDIH2AAMZ992U=&h=300&w=400&sz=17&hl=en&start=2&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=4hYk7QBlRZ6CAM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dshark%2Bfin%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26ndsp%3D21%26tbs%3Disch:1). The background was erased around the shark fin, and the shadow and edges of the shark fin were blurred. A text layer was inserted in a specific shape meant to mimic the movement of water in the photo. This text layer was made less opaque, and was colored red in order to contrast the black and white photo.I manipulated these photos in order to make a point about safety when swimming at the beach.The manipulation was not particularly harmful, as it could prevent shark attacks or other injuries in the ocean. However, it could also scare the viewer, and could hurt tourism to oceanside towns.
In the article I read, alot of information was given about photographs that had been manipulated in a harmful way (damaging reputations, editing history, etc.) This manipulation that I created was not particularly harmful, though the photo is not 100% truthful. I would comment that photo manipulation is not always a bad thing, as it can be used to make a dramatic point about things like safety. However, if the photograph can harm reputations or manipulates the viewer's emotions, it is probably not a beneficial alteration.

Works Cited
Casimiro, Steve. "Seeing Is Not Believing." Popular Science 267.4 (2005): 70-98. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.