More on FAQ #111

The TTG model: “A new approach”

  • A. Capitalizing on a steadfast reality

    In a time when the public is wary of photo-like images that are generated on computers rather than recorded with cameras...

    . . .     TTG capitalizes on the fact that billions of actual photographs continue to be recorded every day by actual people.

  • B. Relying on two powerful forces

    TTG will always draw its strength from fostering a “mutual dependence” between two of the most powerful forces in culture, (1) personal reputation and (2) institutional credibility.

    Both elements know that the Internet’s exhaustive “memory” makes it difficult to fully erase all records of public missteps:

    1. Few photographers who are steadily making a good name for themselves are eager to risk a public misstep and the resulting permanent damage to their reputation.

    2. Few image-providing organizations who have spent years or decades earning public trust will take reckless risks of permanent damage to their credibility.

  • C. How photographers depend on image-providing organizations

    Photographers who use the TTG label want to convince viewers that the photographer is staking his or her reputation on that guarantee.

    That “convincing” is most likely to happen when the label is seen in a credible context — the most credible of which are usually trusted image-providing organizations.

  • D. How image-providing organizations depend on photographers

    Trust-driven image providers (for example, news organizations) who publish images created by an actual person with a camera — not by a computer — want to constantly reinforce their credibility.

    That happens best when they make it clear that they are publishing photos from specific, identifiable photographers who are staking their personal reputation on the claims summarized in the TTG label.

    What happens when the publisher is skeptical about the TTG label?