Simulacro, ficción y manipulación de la realidad en la era digital: Photoshop y el retoque fotográfico

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyze the relationship between photography and truth and to evaluate how the iconic message is modified due to the arrival of the digital age, the plastic capacity of bitmap images and the proliferation of photographs on the Internet and social networks. This article presents some relevant research findings carried out from a diachronic and anthropological approach. These outcomes are based on bibliographic documentations as well as on the analysis of images disseminated through different media. Besides, both observation and active experience as users and professionals of graphic design are provided. The use of photo retouching software such as Adobe@Photoshop@ has also been considered here. Some questions are raised in order to explain the reasons why society has been using photo retouching. In the same way this paper aims at explaining the possible factors that contribute to different interpretations related to the retouching work of images that are seen as a result of technical needs in contrast to those that can be understood as an adverse manipulation. The photographic image works as an element of communication with different meanings depending on the message to which it belongs and the values it serves.