“Properly Fake” is the motto of the 2009 edition of the annual DOCMA Award organized by DOCMA, Doc Baumann’s magazine for digital image editing. Participants are asked to devise an interesting visual subject and accompany it with a description of around 300 characters and a short headline. The climax of the described action must be a photomontage created with digital image-editing or 3D software. The competition is open not only to professional, private and semi-professional users, but also explicitly to people in education, including school and university students.
Adobe Systems is again among the sponsors of the DOCMA Award this year and is supporting it for two reasons. In its Advanced Technology Labs, the Photoshop developer is currently conducting a range of research in image forensics. The aim is to develop methods that can reveal and verify image manipulation. Through its Education program, the company also provides students, teachers, lecturers and others involved in education with special discounts on software, resources and training. “Our Education program makes creative applications such as Photoshop affordable for emerging talent and gives them the opportunity to work with the latest technology from the outset,” explained Rainer Siebert, business development manager for Education at Adobe Systems.
Creative Minds with a Taste for Image Manipulation Wanted
The 2009 DOCMA Award explicitly accepts only work that constitutes a genuine forgery—that is, the digital alteration or falsification of any source photograph. The nature and extent of the interventions, changes and additions are left to participants. “World-changing and fantastical scenes such as flying saucers, elves or monsters may be visually and aesthetically appealing, but they are usually very easy to expose as fakes,” explained Doc Baumann, organizer of the 2009 DOCMA Award. “If you limit yourself to replacing a tree branch or retouching out a wristwatch, the manipulation becomes considerably harder to detect. In the latter case, however, the forged image is also likely to be rather boring.” The competition is therefore looking for sufficiently creative participants with the image-editing skills to develop a convincing visual idea and execute it at a technically demanding level—an assignment made for creative minds who enjoy working with digital image-editing programs such as Photoshop.
Two Expert Assessments
Unlike in previous years, two separate assessment bodies will be active for the 2009 DOCMA Award. To determine the winners, a jury will evaluate entries for their technical execution using aesthetic and craft criteria. Independently, experts in image forensics and criminal image analysis—including representatives of TU Dresden and Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office—will examine and evaluate the submitted photomontages. The source material used by participants will be provided to the experts only afterward, allowing them to check where their analyses were correct or mistaken. This process is also intended to improve the methods used to detect forgery. Further information about the 2009 DOCMA Award is available at http://award.docma.info/.
Technical Innovation for Everyone
Adobe Systems established its Education program five years ago, providing special discounts, resources and training to school and university students, teachers, lecturers and other education professionals. Free learning programs, design templates, competitions and community resources also help students create impressive interactive learning content and prepare for a successful start to their careers. Through its Student Edition, the company also allows students to purchase individual licenses at even lower prices, while educational institutions such as general and vocational schools and universities can choose from a range of flexible licensing options at substantially reduced education prices. Suitable license models can be researched at http://www.adobe.com/de/education/license/matrixl.html. Further education-related information and offers—including lessons, curricula and forums, as well as suppliers, detailed terms and numerous tips—are available at http://www.adobe.de/education.
