Caveat Spectator: Digital Imaging and Data Manipulation

Abstract

, MS ion of ive I n 2011, Tim Piper created a video clip featuring a short time lapse of a beauty photo shoot and postprocessing session on Photoshop showing a radical transformation. Although the video was created for the website GlobalDemocracy.com to support the need for a mandatory disclaimer for airbrushed models, it touched many more cultural issues surrounding the media and methods of advertising today. It has been used as part of a growing social outcry against unrealistic expectations and the objectification of women in the media. This video has been shared and uploaded through multiple social platforms, resulting in more than 10 million cumulative views on YouTube alone. The culture of image manipulation has been perpetuated in colloquialism by the word Photoshop and continues to be the subject of heated debate. For example, photographer and artist Anna Hill created a viral parody of this Photoshop culture using techniques that are rampant in mainstream advertising to create a series featuring herself as the model (Figure 1), touting Photoshop as the “all-in-one” kit that even performs plastic surgery. Indeed, image manipulation in the media is not a new concept. Even the supermodel Cindy Crawford once said, “I wish I looked like Cindy Crawford.” However, with the growing market in digital imaging technology, high-resolution digital cameras and editing software like Photoshop are quickly becoming more affordable and more attainable. In a recent marketing report published by BCC Research, the global digital photography market was valued at $68.4 billion in 2011 and projected to reach $82.5 billion in 2016. Similarly, digital imaging continues to grow in the scientific community, and with this growth, issues regarding improper and even fraudulent use of digital images have multiplied. Digital media have revolutionized the creation and consumption of information in the scientific community. In the education realm, they are used for teaching. In the scientific realm, digital images are considered data. In the medical