Blog 3 - The Impact of Photoshop

         As a general rule, I believe photoshop to be an artistic tool of incredible importance. Even just taking the ability to completely change photographs away, Photoshop has proven to be very influential in allowing for an entirely new genre of art. Perhaps more importantly, it's presented in a way that anyone can create art of their own, and entirely without the need of canvas or paper.
        That being said, the ability to manipulate images is as dangerous as it is revolutionary. As mentioned in the article from Huffpost the use of doctored images in both physical and digital media is widespread and, perhaps more importantly, often goes without a disclaimer to inform the viewer that the image they see isn't real. This has made the spread of misinformation via news sites and propagandists very easy and accessible.
        However, I do feel that the majority of supposed issues caused by Photoshop are misplacing the blame. While I do believe that organized media has a responsibility to avoid misleading its readers, I think much more responsibility lies with the individual to not treat media as irrefutable fact. Even now, I think more and more people are learning to treat media with a sense of skepticism.
        The picture below is of me, after I ran it through a filter on my phone, then used a spot healing brush down the face starting from my hair. I thought the result was interesting.