taking the good with the bad of images

Look at a picture of a young Middle Eastern kid sitting a village playing in the mud. The mud is dark more darker than one would expect, you look further to the right the mud turns red, and someone is kneeing right next to this boy. What would you think about from seeing this image? I think in some sense people, the viewers would see this as a charity video to aid the children caught in the war of terrorism. In a lot of these save the children charity commercials you would see a famous celebrity in the midst and holding one of these children. Some could think that it is probably a rouse to get people to start pouring money because a famous celebrity was etched in the scene. But some could see that is a beneficial side of celebrities trying to give back to the world with their own time. I often don’t feel that the images we see are always to be so negative, but as a gateway for people to have opportunity to give and share.

Christine Rosen might consider the thought of celebrities only reason for being on such infomercials is for publicity, to win the hearts of people by showing their generosity, and charitably to the world, by speaking out and touching the hearts of kids who are in less fortunate countries and children caught in the middle of wars struggling to survive. Rosen could even argue that the image would be distorted as well; the celebrities are just in fixed setting with child actors parading as innocent victims. But one could say that yes the image could very well be distorted, but the message behind it all is for a greater cause. People are quick to judge, but does really matter if your there or not? Infomercial like these save the children foundations may distort the image, for example they say a child is homeless and show the child, with no shoes, barely and clothes and malnourished. This could be camera magic or a trained child actor, but the message is that there are children like this child in the world. There are kids that don’t have clothes, a home, or even food for that matter. The message is always more meaningful that what is actually seen.
Though images are distorted or not it is always how people react to these images, whether they are sympathetic or bias. How people perceive these images is all up to them, people like Rosen could see these images as false advertisement or false conception of what is actually being seen in the image. But it is solely up to the people if they want to believe in what they see or what the message is. The young Middle Eastern boy is playing the mud, the man kneeing beside him a speaker of the infomercial. Who is the main subject and main focal point of the infomercial the man or the child? The child is the main focal point and the message that is trying to be conveyed. Every image has a message, but it is the viewer’s solely choice to believe the image or believe in the message that is too help these children and hope for a better future and life for them.

distorted images

The article "Image Culture", by Christen Rosen is an interesting topic since it talks about how the media uses image in our world to manipulate and change ones perspective. Some people can be constantly looking at an image but in different ways, such as horror movies. People time and time again grow accustom to these images that we grow numb to them, we grow numb to violence.

But in some sense it could be a good thing; people can then twist and spin the image to their liking. People can decide what best suits them, what they chose to believe, giving choice back to the viewers. But to all good things there are often drawbacks, for example people could see President Lincoln in one photo, yet the point of time is not the same, instead it is some other president’s background just Lincoln was inserted into the frame. This is the drawback, what we as the viewers see as an historical moment in time, to be false and warped. It was funny how people themselves can manipulate the media in their own views even to their own personal profit. Makes you wonder what is true or what is untrue one could say, anything now a days can be distorted. False advertisements are some of these big issues.

With such technological advances these days, it’s hard to trust our own eyes, hoping that they don’t lead us astray. Images are just like texts, there are more than meets the eye, in other words there is more to the texts that you’re reading and the images you are viewing. Images can be easily manipulated just as images can. Makes you wonder even more who is being distorted the image or yourself?