TTG Plus > FAQs > More on FAQ #111


“TTG is built on accountability”

  • A. TTG uses a very simple model

    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.

    Anyone who wants their photos to be trusted can now choose to be held accountable for them.

  • B. Two powerful forces: reputation and credibility

    TTG draws its strength from 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 permanent damage to their reputation by publicly guaranteeing that a photo fully meets the Trust Test when it does not.

    2. Few image-providing organizations that have spent years or decades earning public trust will risk permanent damage to their credibility by publishing TTG-labeled photographs that do not in fact fully meet the Trust Test.

  • C. Photographers depend on photo publishers

    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 — and the most credible contexts are image providers who focus on trust.

  • D. Photo publishers depend on photographers

    Trust-driven photo publishers (for example, news organizations) who publish images created by an actual person with a camera — not by a computer — want to continually 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?

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