Photographs, Altered

Altered photographs have been manipulated, either digitally or manually, in order to change the content of the photographic image. The alteration of photographs has occurred since shortly after [Page 757]the invention of the permanent photograph in the early 19th century, although its prevalence has increased with the advent of photo manipulation software. An altered, or “doctored,” photograph can be a particularly insidious means of deception because people tend to perceive photographs as highly credible, accurate representations of people and events. The very existence of a photograph of an event, then, can be taken as evidence that the event truly occurred. Photographs are often used as proof that an event occurred, both in the media and in legal settings. Photographs are doctored for many reasons, ranging from achieving political gain to altering one's physical appearance to editing out minor background details in order to improve the photographic composition. Research on altered photographs has suggested that viewing doctored images can influence peoples' preferences, attitudes, and even memories of past events.

Photographs have been manipulated since at least 1840. Before the use of computers made photo alteration widespread and easily accessible, alteration techniques involved manipulating the film or prints. Among the more crude methods were painting the print or retouching the negative. Other techniques were more subtle: double exposure involved exposing the film twice to incorporate components of two scenes into the same image, while combination printing involved using two or more negatives to create a single print. Early photographic alteration was done not to mislead viewers but to improve the accuracy of the image, as photographers were frustrated by the technology's limitations in its depiction of color and lighting.

Altered photographs have been used to deceive viewers for political reasons as early as 1871, when Ernest Eugene Appert doctored photographs of the Paris Commune massacres as propaganda for the Versailles government. Later, many examples originated in the years just prior to World War II. Stalin, Hitler, and Mao Zedong all had photographs of themselves altered by removing high-ranking political rivals (e.g., Trotsky, Goebbels, and Po Ku, respectively) in order to appear as more monolithic leaders. While the practice of altering photographs to influence public attitudes was often found in totalitarian prewar states, it is still used in contemporary politics. For example, during the 2004 American presidential campaign, in an attempt to portray candidate John Kerry as unpatriotic, a photograph was circulated of Kerry on stage with actress Jane Fonda (who was known for her leftist political leanings) at a rally to protest the Vietnam War. However, Kerry had never attended a rally with Fonda, and it was later discovered that the photograph was a composite of two separate images. In each of these cases, the altered photographs were intended to change perceptions of—and attitudes toward—political leaders and events.