Raised by Tucc-Tigers

I chose to alter a picture of two tigers alone in the grass. I added in a picture of a child sitting down wearing only a diaper. The picture of the tigers came from a simple google search while the picture of the baby came from Stock Exchange. I manipulated the pictures by first cutting the baby out of its original photograph, using the magnetic lasso tool, and then moving him into the photograph of the tigers. I then changed the saturation of the grass (decreased) and the tiger's fur (increased). I changed the lighting on the baby so that it would look more natural next to the tigers and then sharpened the image. I did this manipulation to send a message. In the photograph, the baby is being raised by a Tucc-Tiger family. It is a metaphor for how in modern times children are often raised by technology almost more than their parents. Parents need to make sure that they stay involved in their children's lives and do not simply let technology raise their children. Sticking your kid in front of a computer screen is not raising them. I do not believe that the manipulation was harmful because the message that the new picture conveys is very important and my picture is not outwardly claiming to be real by any means. This relates to the article I read, "True Lies" because in the article I chose, the author argues that editing pictures for a message or other purpose is not wrong. The author, Suzanne Salvo, points out that by changing a camera angle or focal point one is editing a picture almost as much as someone is by using photoshop. It was a very interesting article and while her view is by no means rare she expressed her view very well and fluently. I would like to end with a quote from the article that stuck with me. "Ask 10 photographers to photograph the same thing. You will get 10 different versions of 'the truth'" (Salvo 1).

Spread the truth,

Travis "HTML Homie" Halff

Work Cited

Salvo, Suzanne. "True Lies." Communication World 25.5 (2008): 26-30. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 13. Apr. 2010.

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