Social, Legal and Ethical Issues on the Internet

While the ethics debate of image manipulation mainly centers on the technology, in this article, Suzanne fuels the debate by reminding us that the image itself is photographer's subjective depiction and manipulation of the fact. When the ethical issues reach this far, in my opinion, it seems that the motivation is the most workable measurement ethics. The following is one example in the article. "you see a vast field of beautiful red tulips, but one of the plants is dying. If you focus your camera only on the sick plant and exclude the healthy ones, you have not digitally altered the image, but you have warped the audience's perception of the scene. The resulting unretouched image is an intentionally misleading representation of the field of tulips." Even though the depiction is contrary to the fact, its ethical judgment depends on its motivation. If this photograph is taken for the artistic purpose, such rendering is deemed as okay. But if this photograph, for example, is used to put the farm in disrepute, it is certainly regarded as unethical.  Of course, the examination of motivation can be quite ambiguous in some cases. Anyway, like any other ethical issue, the ethical judgment of photo manipulation is often ambiguous, especially when we include the very act of photographing into the concern. But in any case, I think motivation is the most direct and relatively accurate way of examining the ethics.