Altering Photography: The Case of the Missing Thumb

 

General Photography

You know, given all the fuss people are making about how easily digital photos can be manipulated and how important it is to get the actual photo (see a recent case here, with some background here), I wonder how we should now treat cases like the alteration of the iconic Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange (that page gives you both versions, and note that it’s pre-digital and quite hard to see). Most people will probably not change their mind about Migrant Mother, and there are good reasons why. Maybe that can teach us something about how to treat contemporary cases?