When We Lie: An editorial by Linda Dightmon

  A century ago my grandfather lived by this adage. Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see. He was of course referring to what folks say (rumors) and tricks of the eye. Did ol’ man Brown really kill another spike this year or is that his patented reusable antlers?  The world was simpler then and so were the tricks.  In this digital age we could reword the adage. Believe nothing.  Fortunately we are a gullible bunch or there would be no fun.

   This is especially true when the press is involved. When an event is printed in the papers or as in our case, on a legitimate website then it is intended to be fact. People are more inclined to believe what is written as truth and a photograph is kin to gospel. Or is it?

   Image editing software is cheap and powerful. Digital manipulation is a huge issue in the photography world. At what point does an image become a lie? If I change the hue on a sunset to reflect what my mind’s eye remembers, is it a lie?  I don’t think so. Some will disagree. If I take a picture of a 6 x 6 bull and paste it into a Mohave Desert landscape and post it in AZOD without explanation, is that a lie? I think so. Most will agree. 

   In this scenario, not only am I a liar but AZOD is too. Hence, our quandary. We do our best to bring you, our readers, true and accurate information. Sometimes things slip by. That just makes us more diligent. 

Linda Dightmon

Team AZOD