Ignorance and Irony

This is my photo manipulation which I entitled "Ignorance and Irony." What I am trying to convey through this photo is the need for more compassion, awareness, and intentional giving to the needy. Oftentimes we go about our comfortable lives and forget that there are people (sometimes three feet away) that are suffering and in need. The well-dressed woman looks at the food in the window while the beggar sits starving and invisible. There is a twenty dollar bill on the ground that the woman has unknowingly dropped. To her, it is a manageable loss, but to him, it could be food for a week. The woman represents those who are blessed with financial stability, but unfortunately do not take the time to notice the "invisibles" or are too ignorant to realize the true value of what they possess. The irony is that she dropped money on the pavement and did not even notice. We can help in ways that hardly inconvenience us, but even if it did inconvenience us, we have a role and responsibility to care for those around us.


This artistic photo manipulation is actually a combination of three photographs: the homeless man with the shop window, the woman, and the money on the ground. I used various techniques including: clone stamp, magnetic lasso, crop, picture mover, etc. to create my photo manipulation. I truly believe that this is an effective and beneficial photo manipulation because it is conveying a broader social issue. The situation created in the photo is very probable and realistic to the point that most likely a people interaction, similar to this one, happens daily around the world. However, I do not believe it is always okay to manipulate photos. In some cases, there are regulations one what should and should not be manipulated in a photo. The Department of Defense has very specific guidelines: 


"The memorandum states that alteration of official DOD imagery is generally prohibited. The following photographic techniques are allowed:

• Dodging, burning, color balancing, spotting and contrast adjustment to achieve accurate recording of an event or object.
• Photographic and video image enhancement, exploitation and simulation to support unique cartography, geodesy, intelligence, medical, research and development, scientific and training requirements, provided these techniques do not misrepresent the original image's subject." 
• There should be great caution when using photo manipulation. You should always consider who you are representing and what message should be conveyed (within the guidelines of your respective organization or academic institution).

Source used:

"DOD memorandum on digital manipulation." Military Review 75.6 (1995): 81. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 11 Nov. 2010.