Use digital software such as Photoshop to create a composite image which visually appears to be a documentary photograph but which could never actually be. My general approach to manipulating my images is to adjust the exposure, occasionally white balance, sharpening and to crop where necessary. Partly this is because I have little interest in photo-manipulation but mainly because I am not very good at it so this exercise proved somewhat challenging. My idea was to combine the two forms of transport most closely associated with Cambridge, cycles and punts and create an image which showed them parked in the … Continue reading Exercise 1.4 – The manipulated image (P.42)

Read the section entitled ‘The Real and the Digital’ in Wells, Liz. (2009) Photography: A Critical Introduction (4th edition). Abingdon: Routledge, pp.73–75. You’ll find this on the student website. Does digital technology change how we see photography as truth? Consider both sides of the argument and make some notes in your learning log. Wells’ book was published nearly ten years ago and I think that the change in use of digitally imagery since 2009 means that amongst the general population there is a recognition that images that we see in our daily lives, the majority of which will be online, … Continue reading Exercise 1.5 – The manipulated image (P.44)

Look at some more images from this series on the artist’s website. How do Pickering’s images make you feel? Is Public Order an effective use of documentary or is it misleading? We are presented with this image in the course material. At first glance it could be a picture of a street scene shot early in the morning, however, it soon becomes apparent that something is not quite right; the lack of people and vehicles, the traffic lights not working, the windows with curtains seemingly drawn in day light and the strange position of lights in the windows. The notes … Continue reading Exercise 1.3 – Sarah Pickering’s Public Order (P.37)