3. CROPPING TO DIRECT ATTENTION

4. WHAT WE DO USE & WHAT WE DON�T

5. CLINICAL IMAGES

6. ALTERED COLOUR

1. MANIPULATION

Fig 1

Picture Credit: Liverpool Echo

Professor Dick Van Velzen BMJ 3/2/01 p 255

Here we blended two images, one of Professor Dick Van Velzen, the doctor at the centre of the

organs crisis, and the other of Alder Hey hospital. As the picture of the hospital on its own was too boring and we had already used a different pic of Van Velzen, we decided to superimpose the professor in front of the building because it made a better image, it was relevant to the story, and it was uncontentious. Of course it didn�t look real (as several readers pointed out), but that was not the intention. The two photos together become one illustration rather than a manipulated photo.

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2. USE OF SENSITIVE IMAGES

Fig 1

We make an effort not to use images where the individual is not competent to sign release forms, or to know that a photographer is present. Recently however, we used a cover picture that showed a homeless young man clearly in a mentally vulnerable state

This decision was made because the photo was part of a series made for an exhibition�Case Histories�by Boris Mikhailov, in which he highlights the problems of homeless people in his native Kharkov. Because the image had already been part of an exhibition that had been seen in many countries and appears on several Mikhailov websites, we deemed our use acceptable

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Fig 2 & 3

�Figure 2 � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � Figure 3

�Where we need to illustrate mental conditions, we would normally use set-up shots (fig 2)``

or abstract concepts (fig 3)

Fig 2 Picture Credit: Veer Photonica

Fig 3 Picture Credit: Andrew Cockayne/Trevillion

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3. CROPPING TO DIRECT ATTENTION (4 pics - 2 befores & 2 afters)

Some pictures have a lot going on around the central theme, and so cropping out distractions and irrelevancies can focus the attention immediately on the main point

Picture credit: AP

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4. WHAT WE DO USE & WHAT WE DON�T

Pictures we don�t use

Masking a patient�s eyes like this is something we abandoned years ago .

This image of an AIDS patient is available on a public health site.

Picture credit: CDC

Pictures we do use

Here is an image of a patient with tuberculosis in a Russian prison who clearly knows the picture is being taken. It was one of a series taken for the World Health Organization�s TB advocacy programme in 2003 and appears on their website

Picture Credit: WHO/STB/Colors Magazine/J Mollison

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5. CLINICAL IMAGES