Is Seeing Believing

Is Seeing Believing? (REVISED)

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Is Seeing Believing? Resources for Teaching About the Manipulation of Photographic Images

©2006 – 2026 Frank Baker

Civil War Stalin Magazines

NOTE: This activity was developed before the advent of AI where images (and videos) appear so realistic, it’s difficult to tell if they are real or represent the truth. But the fact remains: the ability to think and view critically, and to verify what one consumes, are the most important skills for students to possess in the world we live in.  This activity challenges them to document the process they used to verify whether an image is real or manufactured. 

KEY QUOTES

“The assumption a lot of people make is, well, pictures don’t lie — you can believe what you see,” said Santiago Lyon, director of photography for the Associated Press. “But of course pictures can lie, and they do lie, and they’ve been manipulated for a long time.” (Source)

 “Any media that employ digitally doctored photographs will have a stronger  effect than merely influencing our opinion — by tampering with our malleable memory, they may ultimately change the way we recall history,”  University of Padua researcher Dario Sacchi– upon release of a study on how people’s recollection of historical events is affected by digitally altered news images.

INTRODUCTION   

Note to educators: “Is Seeing Believing?” is the title of a curriculum I discovered at the Newseum, a museum of news in Washington DC.

It deals with the manipulation of photographic images in news, history, and culture. I became fascinated by this topic, so I devoted this web site to it.

Throughout history the photograph has been manipulated for various purposes. It is important for students to understand those purposes and to learn how to question images they find in media and on the Internet.

With the advent of AI, there is an explosion of fake images, deepfake videos and AI-generated fakes everywhere.

Here you will find a number of contemporary examples of the “digital manipulation of images” as well as links to articles about the ethics and the issue.

A good starting point for students might be the handout “Key Questions,” which helps them use critical thinking skills as they analyze the images.

Let me know what you think of this resource.   fbaker1346@gmail.com

NOTE: Special thanks to Theresa Redmond, Visual Arts educator (Peoples Academy Middle Level in Morrisville VT) for sharing her Webquest and Powerpoint on this topic.

Current recommended articles/resources:

Take the Fake or Photo Challenge

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