Our society seems to have decided upon certain sources that we can trust - National Geographic, Discovery Channel, History Channel, basically those educational companies. When the public sees a photograph published by one of these "trustworthy" sources, they are highly unlikely to question it. But all photos have at least some amount of bias - including those from the "trustworthy" sources.
This poses a problem for the field of archaeology because these companies could post pictures with biases that sway the public opinion without them noticing. Now, this isn't some giant conspiracy of the "trustworthy" companies to use their sway to change the minds of the public for some evil plot - these companies usually have a pretty good reason to be trusted. But the public needs to be critical and realise that not everything that comes from these places is 100% unbiased.
One example is from a previous post, where a National Geographic picture has numerous examples of bias. These aren't huge or game changing for the archaeological field, but they are hidden in there and the public needs to be aware of it.
There's also a lot of power in the logo. Just seeing one of the
logos of these companies on or near a photo can conjure almost
immediate trust. Recognize any of these?
Well, If you didn't the first is National Geographic, Animal Planet, then History channel.
Source
Does this imply that every photograph has bias? Is it possible to take a photo without bias?
ReplyDeleteHow are we to look at photos with a critical eye, but not be too critical?
It is best to play devils advocate with yourself. When you see yours self being totally accepting take a step back. When you see yourself being very skeptical think of how it could be true. Only by weighing all your options do you start to see the truth!
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