![From left to right: UMW students Stephen McClanahan, Rob Willcox and Katie Reif adjust lighting and camera equipment. With their mentor, Assistant Professor of Communication and Digital Studies J.D. Swerzenski, the trio conducted interviews, scouted locations, got familiar with equipment and the editing process, and honed other skills. The five-week filmmaking session was part of UMW’s Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Summer Institute. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.](https://eagleeye.umw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/UMWsummergroups052-300x200.jpg)
Swerzenski Shares Photoshop Expertise on ‘With Good Reason’
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Assistant Professor of Communication and Digital Studies James Swerzenski
Assistant Professor of Communications and Digital Studies JD Swerzenski spoke to With Good Reason radio for an episode titled “Seeing Isn’t Believing.” Photoshop recently unveiled a new function that integrates generative AI, a cutting-edge technology that can produce images from text. JD Swerzenski says we’ve reached a point where photo manipulation has never been so easy. Listen to the show.
Swerzenski Comments on Image Manipulation in ‘Elle’
![Assistant Professor of Communication and Digital Studies James Swerzenski](https://eagleeye.umw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-9.19.50-AM-150x150.png)
Assistant Professor of Communication and Digital Studies James Swerzenski
Assistant Professor of Communication and Digital Studies James Swerzenski spoke to Elle magazine for an article titled “When Did Everyone’s Skin Get So Damn Smooth?” Swerzenski said that while the early 2000s were instrumental in shaping how we perceive our skin—largely because of the rise of technology like Photoshop, which was used by photographers to perfect the images people saw in mass media—it’s important to recognize such phenomena in context. “I think often these conversations can get an ‘okay, Boomer’ tone,” he said. “There are so many incidents throughout history of people in dark rooms, messing with photos and changing and altering them.” Read more.