The second chapter of the reading , entitled “Filtered Reality”, focused on how filters are commonly offered for almost all pictures these days. Although these filters first became popular on Instagram, they are now readily offered to enhance our pictures on iPhones, iPhoto, Flickr, Snapchat, and almost all picture-taking applications. The article suggest that the popularity of these filters, especially in terms of selfless, is due to wanting to take control of our own image. By taking a selfie and then being able to filter it, a person can represent their image without having to rely on someone else.
In the reading they use the terms style and substance to represent this balance. The substance is the actual photograph and the style is the filter on the photo. I have no problem with filters and often use them on my own photos, but I have recently found myself wondering how much is too much? When there is more emphasis on style, than substance, I wonder if we lose the genuineness of the photograph.
There is an iPhone app called Facetune that many people use, and I wonder if it takes the idea of filters a little too far. On Facetune, not only can people put flattering filters on their pictures, but they can also airbrush their skin, whiten their teeth, and even distort the picture to make themselves look skinnier. On this app people can make themselves look like completely different people. Although I understand the idea of wanting to add style and make yourself look better in a picture, at a certain point the substance doesn’t even matter if it has been editted so much that it is unrecognizable. At that point I believe the photo becomes almost dishonest, unless the person were to explain that the photo was edited. Balancing style and substance is an important element of using digital media correctly without abusing its potential.