Two Truths and a Lie

Recently in Photography Class we did a project mimicking the ice breaker game "two truths and a lie." For those of you who haven't played the game the premiss is a person says 3 facts about themselves and the other people playing have to guess which one of the facts is a lie. The game is fun, especially with people you have just met, but as a photography project it was especially interesting. The theory was that one picture in a series of 3 would be manipulated, and during a "critic" with the class the other students had to guess which was the manipulation, or the "lie."

At face value the project seems kind of dull, a guessing game with no real value. However when a little more thought is applied to the project, it is an interesting criticism of our modern society. The point is that the class cannot see what you have changed. The criticism is that it is so easy to fabricate events through photoshop, or even with darkroom photography; that people today never truly know what happened and can never know what is a lie. In the modern media, ideas, events, and outcomes can be changed through photo and audio editing--does this mean that the public cannot trust what we learn and see?

The idea is a frightening one, but once the class reached the end of the project, most people could see what was manipulated. Since the class was told to think critically about the 3 pieces and determine which was true and which was false, the fabrication was usually picked out. I believe the comparison of this project and the modern media holds true. If the public knows to think critically about the what they see, then they will not be convinced of false information. Nothing should be taken at face value, whether it be art or news, never be sure that something is not fabrication--is not "the lie."