Photoshop Fantasies: Putting Altered and Synthetic Imagery on the Internet into Context

Abstract: The possibility of an altered photo revising history in a convincing way highlights a salient threat of imaging technology. Afterall, seeing is believing. Or is it? The examples history has preserved make it clear that the observer is more often than not meant to understand that something has changed. Surprisingly, the objectives of photographic manipulation have remained largely the same since the camera first appeared in the 19th century. The old battle worn techniques have simply evolved to keep pace with technological developments. In this talk, we will learn about the history of photographic manipulation, from the invention of the camera to the present day. Importantly, we will consider the reception of photo editing and its relationship to the notion of reality, which is more significant than the technologies themselves. Surprisingly, we will discover that creative mythmaking has found a new medium to embed itself in. This, in turn, becomes a stumbling block in intelligence analysis, where innocuous content can become confused with misinformation in politically volatile settings.

Bio: Walter J. Scheirer is the Dennis O. Doughty Collegiate Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. His research interests within the field of computer science include artificial intelligence, computer vision, and machine learning. Prof. Scheirer is also a cultural critic and historian, commenting on the social context of emerging technologies from the realistic perspective of a technologist. He has an extensive background in national security, and currently works with multiple federal agencies on matters related to media forensics. His most recent book, A History of Fake Things on the Internet, will be released this Fall by Stanford University Press.