An intersting observation by Geoff Cohen on the alleged awfulness of not being able to trust photographic evidence in a digitally manipulative world:
This sort of thing sends people into a tizzy. “We won’t be able to trust film! We won’t have a perfect record!” But the funny thing is that this was true for 99% of the history of the human race; only in the last hundred years or so have we had this idea that technology could serve as a perfect, impartial observer. All that digital editing has done is return us to that state, where instead of relying on the perfection of technology, we need to begin to relearn to sense the motives and honesty of the people holding the evidence; no different than any other kind of testimony or story.
Indeed, even photography — and even leaving out the earlier ability to analogicallly alter same — has never meant a perfect record. Shooting angle and moment can manipulate, mislead, or even deceive, as any good photographer (or political consultant) knows.
Still, interesting.