Megan's Blog

Earl Morris’ article Photography as a Weapon illustrates the significance of using photographs in media and forms of propaganda. While words are concrete and stick well with readers, images serve as a permanent visual for audiences to refer to when looking back on a memory. Photographs are truly what stimulates the mind and help jog one’s memory. Therefore, they are useful in aspects of media such as newspapers, bilboards, and other types of advertisements.

Below is a past photograph of supposed Iranian missiles which was photoshopped:

At first glance it seems legitimate, which is probably how much time one would spend looking at it while browsing through the news. Upon further examintation, you can see small details which make the photograph questionable. While discussing the photograph, Morris points out that when we absorb information, we do not absorb whether or not said information is true. He explains how we only remember the misinformation but we “forget the tag associated with it.” Taking this into account, even a fake photograph would be effective because it would still stick with its viewers. This statement made me second guess a lot of the photographs and information used in media and advertising. Since it is difficult to process a lot of information at once, it easy to not pay attention to all that is being heard. One could easily forget if something was false.

~ by mmaggi117 on September 17, 2012 .