Blog Assignment: Ethics

•What are the ways readers can judge the credibility of an image even in this era of digital manipulation?

In this period of digital manipulation, the advancement of technology has blurred the line between a true event and a pseudo event. Credibility of an image is now questioned even more than the past. However there are still several ways to check on the credibility of an image.

First the source of the image is always important. For example s prominent or reputable source would most likely hold more credibility than those from a less reputable source. Next the viewer might want to check for some flaws in the image, such as the head might be superimposed badly onto the body. Such small details might be overlooked so these are just some tell tale signs of digital manipulation.

Unfortunately these are the few things I know to judge the credibility of an image. I mean the news can only be taken with a pinch of salt. However I’m not trying to say everything is falsely reported to make news sell. But I mean news is just merely a way for us to know more about the world, and images are just a way to further bring out the image in us readers. Therefore I suppose a little manipulation here and there is fine since pictures sometimes speak more than words. However if the photos are manipulated for the wrong purposes then it is wrong.

So what are considered ‘wrong’? I guess it would mean defamation of a person’s public image (such as superimposing a person’s head onto a naked body), exploiting the young (such as the incident of using a young lady’s picture from Flickr on an advertising campaign in Australia), and misusing another person’s work and claiming ownership, as well as tweaking the image to make the subject more vulnerable.

However in cases such as making the subject more aesthetically beautiful is fine with me, since who likes to look flaws when there are so many in our daily lives? Photo manipulation is necessary to sell in this society where the preconceived notion of beauty is already warped.


•Imagine yourself as a reader representative for a newspaper. What would you tell a reader who complained to you about a picture of a car wreck that was particularly upsetting?

Personally I would explain to her the purpose of using an image to convey the message. She might be violently against it, so I would have to be empathetic as well. However I would not agree to remove the picture unless it has a more personal affliction on the reader.
So first I have to understand where the reader is coming from then act appropriately.

Blog Assignments: Singapore Biennale 2008

Overall, I think the Biennale is a huge success. It shows diversity and gives tribute to the international Art scene. As you know Art is very much underrated in Singapore, hence with the increasing emphasis recently, by the government, to promote the local Art scene, it is giving the local Arts a voice in the international platform.

In the Biennale, the art pieces all have very strong concepts behind it and through the use of different techniques. The artist’s concepts are conveyed through surrealistic and conceptualistic approaches. They invoke us to question the world through their art and at the same time aesthetically entertain us. The process is both an enriching and entertaining one. Furthermore, the exhibitions brought us to local venues we would have not visited at all, such as the inside of City Hall and South Beach Development building.

There are many successful works in the Biennale, such as the Felice Varini Project: “Drill Hall” and the ‘I’m Not Expensive’ installation. And the most successful, in my opinion, is the ‘Bachelor - The Dual Body’.

In a dark room with nothing but a book floating in an aquarium of blue water, it catches anyone’s attention and blows everyone away with the impact of this installation. Everyone would be entranced by the book dancing around in the tank. I was blown away by it when I first sees it and my impression of the meaning behind it would be something like, the book epitomizes the past literature art while the blue tank symbolizes the modernity of it. I thought it meant that art is still present in the present but it is floating around loosely without anyone fully comprehending it. Furthermore with the fading text, it shows that art is losing its ground in the modern world.

The artist’s interpretation was something not too far away. The philosophical book is loose from its bearings due to the waves of globalization.

On the other hand, there are always some not very successful installations, such as the ‘Flight’ and ‘Lightlines’. But I guess the least successful one would be the three channel video installation ‘El naufragio de los hombres (The wreck of men)’. Without reading the description of the exhibit, one would be confused with what the artist is trying to portray with the images. The place was eerie and the shadow figures moving on screen are creepy.


Even after reading the description of the exhibit, it does not seem to help much in understanding the images. I think the artist meant to portray the problems of global warming with the solitary figures standing on ice bergs and in a vast empty landscape. Overall, the images was not very impressive and when you thought more would be shown to further enhance the experience, you are given another same shot and you just further question, why the need to stay in that room any further.

Blog Exercise: Analyzing a Picture

Picture taken from justjared.com

This commercial photograph is for a Marc Jacobs advertising campaign. Victoria Beckham, the new spokesperson for Marc Jacobs, is shot in a series of pictures depicting her as a doll in all forms of Marc Jacobs merchandise and shopping bags. The photographer’s intention is to depict the consumerism lifestyle of society. How everyone wants to be like their favourite celebrity. It mocks at all the attention focused on the lifestyles of the rich and famous. As the other pictures from this campaign shows, Victoria Beckham is acting like a doll in all the Marc Jacobs’ shopping bags. To further make her look more vulnerable and doll-like, the top down camera view is used. The photographer makes the viewers look through the picture (Realism), at the picture (Formalism) and beyond the picture (Expressionism). Being a style icon, everyone wants to be like her, hence the portrayal of her in a shopping bag. The lighting is over Victoria Beckham, shedding little and less obvious shadows. The picture is also slightly over exposed to give a humorous shock effect. With the appropriate pose of Victoria Beckham, it shows how Victoria Beckham is caught in the act of trying to escape from the shopping bag. Her darker skin tones and hair colour is used to give contrast to the almost white picture. This brings the viewer’s eyes immediately to Victoria Beckham, which is the subject of the picture. Her awkward poses are also apt since people have the impression that dolls have stiff joints, further enhancing the doll persona. The framing is obvious, with the key subject in the middle. The lack of colour gives it a more serious and posh appeal, however if the images are shot in black and white, then the impact would be lost. The texture is obvious, giving it a more catalogue feeling. It makes the viewer feel like he/she is flipping through the magazine and saw these pictures.

Overall I think the photographer has done well in executing the images and portrayed his intended messages.

Blog exercise 2

Credit: http://www.art.com/asp/sp-asp/_/PD--10315524/SP--A/IGID--847209/Honey_is_Sweeter_than_Blood.htm?sOrig=CAT&sOrigID=24105&ui=46F944D6BD594671A13A884512BB3B25

Created by renowned Spanish artist during the Surrealist movement, this portrait evoked the imagination of all who lay eyes on it. Titled ‘Honey is Sweeter than Blood’, this image is both beautiful and haunting.

Using the naked body of a woman, it showed the narcissist in all humans. How we all strive to look good and achieve a status of the gods, eminent in the heavenly backdrop of the image, regardless of any price we might pay. The skeletal left hand and the imperfect abdomen, signify the ugliness in these beautiful pursuits. The stand supporting the body underneath the right underarm, also signify how earthly roots how we need to be grounded despite in such a holy world.

Her head and her left shoulders are fading most likely signifying the loss of the individual self and identity in the endless pursuit of material satisfaction. The centaur looking figure at the top right hand corner of the image with his back facing the woman might signify the lack of social support in this new industrial age. Everyone is together physically but not socially. The laggards would only be left behind with the passing of time.

The trees on the clouds signify the reality in this abstractness. Reality right now might seem like a dream but it is impending if nothing is done to prevent it.

However I might not be accurate in trying to portray what the artist originally meant. But I guess that is where he is successful in his surrealistic portrait. The image is so well drawn, that it resembles a photograph. The artist is a genius in his work and social insight.

Blog Excercise: 1

I'm not too sure how to interpret pictures. For me generally, if the picture is composed of good lighting, colors, sharp image then it is a good picture. The depth involved in pictures might be too abstract for me but I shall try cos I'm very impressed with artists who put in alot of effort and emotion into their art works.



World Press Photos



For this competition, I am more interested in the stories than the individual pictures. I wondered what kind of stories they could tell with the pictures they have. And to my amazement it was jus a series of photos that represent a certain story/ an issue they would like the world to know about. A picture speaks a thousand words and as a phtographer, they chose to represent such controversial issues for a global event like this. I'm impressed.



Anyways as I was saying I liked the "People in the news: 2nd prize stories". The images portray a certain sense of despair and it's calling out for help. It shows the plight they are in and the captions further explains and tells the story. I like how the pictures are captured. The color composition and the whole gloomy and yet bright look of the pictures are just amazing. It gives a very hopeful feeling to me when I see them.



I also liked the pictures from "Contemporary issues: 2nd prize stories". It is about how some people are speaking out about their sexual violations from people around them. How keeping quiet is no longer an option and they are now lending their voices to give suport to other victims and raise awareness to people who might underextimate the damage these crimes of abuse can be.



I liked another one which was quite gloomy it's from "



Away from the darkness of humanity or modernisation, I also liked this series of photographs from "Sports action: 2nd prize stories". I liked how the pictures are shot and especially the one with the tennis ball and a blurry image of a hand lifting it into the air. I also liked another picture of a female long jump. The image was impressive. This series of photographs were very symmetrical and truly showed the beauty and grace of these sports. The content of this series might be the reason why it came in second behind the bungee jumping series. Cos these are everyday sports common to people while the other one is something different, and might be unknown to some. It had a more educated and out of the box idea going on. Which is what art is all about also. Which is creativity that makes your work stand out and different from others.



Away from the stories categories, I also liked another picture from the Nature category. I liked all the 3 winners of this category. I personally like animals in still shots. They are just beautiful. I like the second prize winner the one with a polar bear. I thought it was a little saddening to see the polar bear slumped like that on his own grounds. The image seemed very doomed to me. I feel sorry for the polar bears and yet helpless in his plight. I like pictures of nature especially in places far away from civilisation untainted with concrete structures of mankind. I am deeply concerned with how our actions are killing the creatures and damaging the environment. Hence I think if the damage goes on, then images like these would no longer be available. Hence STOP POLLUTION!!!



Arte Laguna



I liked the first prize winner. I thought it's a very well thought out picture. Amazed with his photographic skills and ideas. However I also liked the second and the third winners. The Second prize winner's pictures looked very portrait-like. Very artistically done and also abstract. I liked this image the most cos of the symmetry involved and the meaning behind it. I'm not sure if I am right with the underlying meaning of the image but I thought it felt like she was trying to say that the protagonist, the woman in black, is accompanied by a pure soul (her moral self) and she steps on the darkness of this world(the demon beneath her right leg) and the two globes attached to her seemed to represent the duality of reality and the inner self(a sphere that reflects her like a mirror). She is constantly trying to balance between what the world wants her to be and who she is deep within. This tug of war shows how conflicted she is between good and evil.

I also personally like the third winner for this competition. Like how he place the girl at different parts of the train station and how the train stops at the end of the picture. It showed fluidity, a moving sequence even though it is on a still picture. And the completion of her wait. Love the way the artist seamlessly put the shots together, something I seriously need to master.

Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2008

When I was shown the picture of Martha, I was shocked, astounded, in awe of the clash of beauty and horror. The picture totally portrayed the meaning of modern day's perception of beauty. How we all deem thin to be beautiful and how many people, the young especially, are starving themselves to look BEAUTIFUL. To want to lead the lives of the glamorous and fame and fortune. Earth shattering piece.

I also like the 3rd place 'Everybody Hurts' picture. So simple and clear. So cute.

The landscapes are jus too surreal. It gives a sense of falsity, like how isit possible to capture something like that. It could be the technique the artist used but wonder how much is actually not photoshoped.

I personally like the 'White Tiger' alot. It captured the beauty and beastility of the White Tiger. An endangered species. It looked like it is pounching out of the picture to eat us or something. So pure and beautiful.

I also like the 'Sunset' in the Botanical section. So gorgeous! Too beautiful for words. The timing was great and the angle was interesting. Never thought of looking from that angle. It looked so raw and unedited unlike the 'Small but Beautiful' and 'Autumn Leaf'.

Overall, I love all the pictures in all 3 websites. I inspire to be like them one day. A man driven by creativity and passion to speak through images and inspire others to action regarding certain issues.