DPP Assignment 4 revisited

During my period of enforced rest I decided to re-visit Assignment 4 where my tutor had asked for a more 'involved' response. I tried a number of alternative scenarios using images that I had taken and whilst one or two worked reasonably well I felt that there was a better alternative somewhere out there. I had at the same time been giving consideration to my submission for Assignment 5 and one fine day had visited the East Coast to take a number of photographs that would, hopefully, fit in with my intended project. Some of these were of Sizewell Nuclear Power Station. Shortly after I was reading an article on the continuing problems in Japan following the tsunami. Something clicked and I had my idea for the book cover:

The image was created from two basic images:

and

The first image of Sizewell B was altered by use of the Curves dialogue. I found by accident some years ago that if you created an 'M' or 'W' curve you could create a whole range of false colours. I had a lot of fun trying various settings to find the one that I felt offered the most dramatic response (one thing I have never been able to do is to go back and repeat the change). The second image is of my wife (I dread to think who she was thinking of in order to show such abject terror!). I selected the image and placed it on  a separate layer. The burning effect was created using a technique that I had seen in a magazine (Photoshop User published by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals www.photoshopuser.com). I then dragged this image into the Sizewell B image.

The 'explosion' at the top of the Containment Dome was added by hand. The lightning strike was created using the Pen Tool and a combination of layer styles and the paint brush. The text layers were straightforward - created on separate layers and moved to where I thought they were best placed.

The ethical approach to the creation of this book cover raises some serious doubts. Clearly it is designed to condition the mind of the reader to one point of view. The dramatic nature of the design suggests a nuclear catastrophe whilst the design of the supplementary text "Are we being told the TRUTH?? strongly hints that the author believes that we are not. However the conclusion requires a great deal of input from the reader and his/her view of the nuclear industry. Also is the book fictional or non-fictional? If it is the former then ethical questions hardly arise other than in the way that the reader is seduced into picking up the book and opening it. If the latter then much depends upon the contents and how balanced the presentation. 

In the following blog I present my argument about the value and usefulness of discussing the ethical considerations surrounding the manipulation of images.