Picture Perfect: Life in the Age of the Photo Op - New Edition - Hardcover

Adatto, Kiku

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691124396 ISBN 13: 9780691124391

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2008

Synopsis

We say the camera doesn't lie, but we also know that pictures distort and deceive. In Picture Perfect, Kiku Adatto brilliantly examines the use and abuse of images today. Ranging from family albums to Facebook, political campaigns to popular movies, images of war to pictures of protest. Adatto reveals how the line between the person and the pose, the real and the fake, news and entertainment is increasingly blurred. New technologies make it easier than ever to capture, manipulate, and spread images. But even in the age of the Internet, we still seek authentic pictures and believe in the camera's promise to document, witness, and interpret our lives.

About this title

About the Author

Kiku Adatto is a Scholar in Residence at Harvard University's Humanities Center. Her writings on culture, politics, and the media have appeared in many publications, including the New York Times, the New Republicand the Huffington Post.

From the Back Cover

"Picture Perfect is perfect. The thoroughness and patience and precision of the research dumbfound me! Kiku Adatto has again provided us with a valuable tool for the continuing assessment of our media."--Walter Cronkite

"Tired of being manipulated by politicians and image consultants? Then read Kiku Adatto's brilliant, revealing book.Picture Perfect is pure consumer protection for good citizens."--Larry J. Sabato, author ofA More Perfect Constitution

"Images are more important to our lives, both private and public, than ever before. Kiku Adatto's narrative, rich with evocative details, helps us understand how this has happened, and what it means for our future."--Robert D. Putnam, author ofBowling Alone

"Kiku Adatto's Picture Perfect is a book every journalist must read if we are to begin to truly understand ourselves and our world--and if we are to avoid the deadly mistake of Othello, who uncritically believed what he saw."--Bill Kovach, Project for Excellence in Journalism

"With rare insight and acuity, Kiku Adatto dispels the mystifications of a media age in which vital information is obscured by the opportunism of the photo op, and reality is too often the victim of the manipulations of Photoshop. This is an empowering book."--Homi K. Bhabha, author of The Location of Culture

"Picture Perfect is our most elegant, comprehensive, and current study of media and politics. Masterfully weaving together accounts of photographs, movies, television news, and the Internet, Adatto has written a profound reflection on the meaning of images in our public and private lives."--Jeffrey Abramson, author of We, the Jury

From the Inside Flap

"Picture Perfect is perfect. The thoroughness and patience and precision of the research dumbfound me! Kiku Adatto has again provided us with a valuable tool for the continuing assessment of our media."--Walter Cronkite

"Tired of being manipulated by politicians and image consultants? Then read Kiku Adatto's brilliant, revealing book.Picture Perfect is pure consumer protection for good citizens."--Larry J. Sabato, author ofA More Perfect Constitution

"Images are more important to our lives, both private and public, than ever before. Kiku Adatto's narrative, rich with evocative details, helps us understand how this has happened, and what it means for our future."--Robert D. Putnam, author ofBowling Alone

"Kiku Adatto's Picture Perfect is a book every journalist must read if we are to begin to truly understand ourselves and our world--and if we are to avoid the deadly mistake of Othello, who uncritically believed what he saw."--Bill Kovach, Project for Excellence in Journalism

"With rare insight and acuity, Kiku Adatto dispels the mystifications of a media age in which vital information is obscured by the opportunism of the photo op, and reality is too often the victim of the manipulations of Photoshop. This is an empowering book."--Homi K. Bhabha, author of The Location of Culture

"Picture Perfect is our most elegant, comprehensive, and current study of media and politics. Masterfully weaving together accounts of photographs, movies, television news, and the Internet, Adatto has written a profound reflection on the meaning of images in our public and private lives."--Jeffrey Abramson, author of We, the Jury

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691124396
• ISBN 13: 9780691124391
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288