In all the discussions about black, white, color, and technology, I became interested in the idea that in today’s world we need to be able to decipher what is real and what is not.  This is laid out in the reading by Nancy Allen, “Ethics and Visual Rhetorics: Seeing’s Not Believing Anymore.”  In the article, Nancy says “Because technology has made enhancement and, in some cases, distortion so easy, visual alterations are becoming common.”  It is so easy to create an original picture or idea just based on the manipulation of visuals.  The art of photo shop can introduce entirely new creatures such as these:

While the first picture is recognized immediately as a fake, because most adults know without a doubt that a Crocaduck does not exist, the second image may take a moment to catch the cut and paste.  If you pay a little more attention, you see that one of the ducks has evolved into the beautiful Duckatoo.  The perfection of the photo shop is so impressive that the imagination runs wild picturing creatures like these in our normal environments.

Not only can this art create brand new creatures of the animal kingdom, it can also completely change the meaning and perception of an everyday picture.  The picture below takes what may be a very bland and “normal” picture of a bus in London, and transforms it into something full of wonder with a dark and elegant feel.  If this picture were not modified, we would most likely see a simple overcast sky during the day, with some people, a dingy bus, and a clock tower in the background.

Lastly, there is virtually nothing that we (humans) look at in the natural world that is viewed through our lens as black and white.  It makes the picture below seem odd to me, because we all know what Lucy and Ricky really look like; one being a bright red-head, the other having hair of jet black that is actually lightened by the black and white picture.

Nancy is right, what looks real, is oftentimes not real at all with technologies today.  Or in this case, technologies of the past as well.