Digital Art

Photo manipulation does have its fair share of solely recreational users. This type of digital manipulation has become an art form and another medium of communication for artists. From photo art as a social commentary to parodies of well known images, Knight Ridder newspaper’s Stan Choe calls this form of manipulation a subculture “burning across the world” (10) via the Internet. The purpose of this art is, not to make the viewer interpret the image as reality, but to create an image that appeals to the eye and makes the viewer question the skills, techniques and tools used to create the image. With the ability to appeal to the eye comes the ability to make the images appear real. In other words, the tools and techniques used are so practiced and seamless that it creates an image that could possibly be real. For instance, the most skilled artists make their images look as if it could be real to inspire curiosity in their audiences.

Marja-Leena Pehlo has a web portfolio of the digital art she has produced using photo manipulation programs. Her intent is to use these images for advertisement, commercial and industrial purposes. Space Clock is a compellation of multiple images altered to create new and unique representation of a clock in the sky. While physically a photograph of the same element in reality is impossible, the skill while crafting the image is flawless that it does not look like a mish-mash of cut and paste images.

Similarly, Jerry Uelsmann uses his skills to entertain his audiences by “embedding exotic foreign images into natural landscapes” (3). These surrealist art photographers can make “reality unreal and, conversely, make fantasy seem real” (4)

Jerry Uelsmann Small Woods Where I Met Myself, (final version),1967 vintage gelatin silver print

Images Courtesy of Laurence Miller Gallery Exhibition

This subculture of this art has created a need for markets to display the art. While the conventional method of displaying art in galleries is an option for the skilled, there are others that are not masters at the programs, but enjoy the sport of photoshopping. It is a “marriage between art and technology… that is easily dabbled in, but not easily mastered” (8). This market has translated into a gamut of sites that collect postings of photos, essays on skills, and contests for the best representation. Each site usually shows the unique image, the source images and possibly the secrets behind their creation.

Fark.com is a site for posting manipulated photos with Adobe Photoshop. Users usually put the original photo and other source photos on the site and then display their final work of art. They range from the very technically skilled to the humor and artsy types of photo manipulation techniques. All techniques from cut and paste to replication to color correction and enhancement are used and some perfected.

Original Alanis Morissette CD Cover (Jagged Little Pill)	Parody on Morisette CD with Thomas Anderson
Original of Two cops	Looks like those cops were really Burt and Ernie
The original movie star in her spring dress and the original DaVinci painting	A combination of the DaVinci painting as the Dress
Images Courtesy of Fark.com

Worth1000.com holds photo contests in specific categories and selects the winner by a series of votes from viewers. More often than not the one with the most votes is usually a flawless manipulation that could not be detected as a manipulation of the original. This does not mean that the picture has any element of reality in it, but merely emphasizes the skills of the artist. However, this website always includes an indication on the bottom left hand corner that the picture is affiliated with the website. This notification preserves the art of the graphic and does not mislead any viewer as to the reality of the photo.