Today's digital photographs are being heavily "filtered." By simple clicks on mobile apps like Hipstamatic and Instagram, users can easily apply digital filters to their pictures to create effects such as faux-vintage and light leaks. To understand the potential impacts of photo filters, we conducted an online experiment and investigated how the use of the black-and-white and film-style photo filters changed viewers' perceptions and descriptions of photographs. We found that photo filters substantially increased viewers' perceived temporal distances to photographs. Participants also tended to describe analogue-style photos more interpretively and tentatively than unfiltered ones, indicating an increase in construal levels. We suggest that the widely used photo filter is not just a tool to change aesthetics; it also adds a layer of history, meaning, and defamiliarization to photographs, allowing users to construct a mental distance in images that deviates from everyday experiences. We offer insights into the psychology of visual styles and implications for designing filter apps and photo-sharing platforms.
Full article: https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3025810
11. Low construal level
New York City is a large city
with five boroughs and about
18 million people.
High construal level
New Yorkâs lights,
shimmering in the foggy sky,
remind me of outer space.
(Alter & Oppenheimer, 2008)
12. Defamiliarization
âThe technique of art is to
make objects âunfamiliar,â to
make forms difficult, to
increase the difficulty and
length of perception
because the process of
perception is an aesthetic
end in itself and must be
prolonged.â
Art as Device, Viktor
Shklovsky, 1917
23. Level of interpretation
âPlease describe the photo in a
few sentences.â
Number of tentative words used
(e.g., maybe, or, perhaps)
The film-style filter led
participants to describe
photographs more
interpretatively and tentatively
(d = 0.34).
Original
Film*
B&W
24. A helicopter has just dropped of US
troops in the desert. The soldiers
form a circle on the ground with
their guns drawn pointing outwards.
Their packs besides them.
Soldiers seem to be preparing for
some type of battle or stand down.
They all have their guns raised
which means the area they are in
probably holds some serious
enemies.
25. A group of children smile up at the
camera with their hands
outstretched.
A group of African children. They
appear rather healthy and vibrant.
It appears that they are playing a
game, most likely football with a
home made ball.
26. Visual appeal
The use of film-style filter
decreased visual appeal (d
= 0.33), which was
approaching statistical
significance.
Original
Film+
B&W
27. Age
Original
Film
B&W
The effects of film-style filter on
perceived temporal distance were
stronger among young people.
Older people particularly
disliked the film-style filter.
28. Photographic knowledge
Original
Film
B&W
In B&W condition, people with less
photographic knowledge became
more tentative, while people with
more knowledge became less
tentative.
Less photographically
knowledgeable people
disliked the film-style filter.
29. Key results
B&W and film-style filters â perceptions of temporal distance.
Film-style filter â more tentativeness and interpretation.
Age and photographic knowledge moderate the effects of photo
filters.
Film-style filter â visual appeal (particularly among older and
less photographically knowledgeable people).
