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

by Kiku Adatto

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Photography

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 1993

Reviews

[Kim Lacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Several of the chapters were seriously outdated, and isn't applicable to visual rhetorical studies anymore. For example, Adatto talked a lot about the media's role in election cycles pre-1988. It's interesting and provides some good historical background, but it's not too helpful in understanding anything that's happened in the 20+ years since.

This is the second edition, and it reads like Adatto just updated the first and last chapters. If you're looking for a historical perspective, you might find it useful. Some interesting stuff here, but not for studies in contemporary visual arts.

[Kiof · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fucking masterpiece. Not all of it's a revelation, but a large part is. Everyone who ingests media regularly should read this as a much needed breath-mint. Highly recommended not just by me, but Mr. America himself, Walter Cronkite.

[Roberta · Rating 2 out of 5]

The early chapters were quite focused and relevant to the idea of media manipulation of imagerty. Later chapters meandered into more general ideas - iconic films - without clearly nailing a point.