Photo manipulation can be a very powerful way to portray art, make statements or even manipulate people. When photo manipulation is done for the right reasons, it is like using a digital art brush to “paint” a picture. One of my favorite things to do in Adobe Photoshop is to manipulate photographs by replacing backgrounds or adding objects in a way that makes the photograph more interesting. I do it for art and to show what is possible.

There are plenty of examples out there of unethical photo manipulation found on social media. Has anyone seen the photoshopped mushroom in the aurora photograph that was being passed off as a natural phenomenon? Or the photoshopped red jelly fish in the night sky? These photographs were accompanied by long convincing statements of “authenticity” and thousands of people were in complete awe. They were fooled by the content. My opinion is that is unethical as it pretended to be educational.