Umbria World Fest 2017 Explores Truth and Manipulation in Photography

The Umbria World Fest in Foligno, curated by Marco Pinna, dedicates its 2017 edition to the theme "Post-Truth: Photography in the Age of Uncertainty," questioning photography's capacity for objectivity in an era of fake news and social media. The festival features multiple exhibitions examining how photographers construct, manipulate, and document reality. Max Pinckers' series "Lotus" stages Thai transgender subjects in cinematic setups, openly acknowledging artifice to warn viewers about image falsity. Daniel Berehulak's "They are slaughtering us like animals" documents extrajudicial killings in the Philippines' drug war with brutal realism. NASA satellite imagery tracks glacial retreat as an objective scientific counterpoint. Diego Moreno's "Guardians of memory" uses grotesque masks to explore ancestral beliefs and collective memory. Henry Fair's aerial "Industrial Scars" reveals ecological disasters through abstract beauty. Cristina de Middel's "Jan Mayen" reconstructs a faked 1911 Arctic expedition, blurring truth and fiction. An exhibition from L'Espresso's archive, "La verità tagliata," shows pre-Photoshop image manipulation using scissors and glue. The festival runs in Foligno, Italy, with sober displays and concise captions facilitating reflection on political, social, and environmental issues. Pinna questions whether absolute objectivity is necessary for storytelling and whether photography is undergoing a technological and conceptual transformation.