'morphed photos'

One always knew  that photographs had a (to quote Barthes) a " madness" in them. One didn't expect that be so infectious.  So maddeningly dangerous.  But given the ease which they can now spread through societies and across borders, one should not be very surprised that a few photos can play havoc across whole countries.

The Indian government keeps calling them "morphed" when they probably  mean  'photoshopped.' The term doesn't really matter, does it. It used to photo montages. Something that has been with photography  even before the first photograph was taken.  It was painting that , after all , that birthed photography . gave it its wings . And the first flights photography took was  were in the  flight path of painting - through montages - wanting to be painting.Not bound to the moment. certainly not  the singular, one  'decisive moment'.

check out these links from just one site ,  for a fair idea that  photographs have always been manipulated. by all societies.  Not just be the infamous communists .


Though photo manipulation has become more common in the age of digital cameras and image editing software, it actually dates back almost as far as the invention of photography. Gathered below is an overview of some of the more notable instances of photo manipulation in history. For recent years, an exhaustive inventory of every photo manipulation would be nearly impossible, so we focus here on the instances that have been most controversial or notorious, or ones that raise the most interesting ethical questions
http://www.fourandsix.com/photo-tampering-history/


photojournalism ethics???
http://www.fourandsix.com/photo-tampering-history/tag/photojournalism-ethics

this one interests me a lot. for the real effect that photography has on our very idea of our bodies.

http://www.fourandsix.com/photo-tampering-history/tag/body-image


This digitally altered photograph of OJ Simpson appeared on the cover of Time magazine shortly after Simpson’s arrest for murder. This photograph was manipulated from the original mug-shot that appeared, unaltered, on the cover of Newsweek. Time magazine was subsequently accused of manipulating the photograph to make Simpson appear “darker” and “menacing”.
http://www.fourandsix.com/photo-tampering-history/tag/race-and-gender


for a bit of the background to the morphed photos spreading the madness across india.  check this.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/NE-exodus-India-to-send-morphed-pictures-to-Pak/Article1-916773.aspx

and for the use of similar fake framing in Syria,

http://twitter.com/LindaJuniper/status/229678543611756544/photo/1