BLUR

topics

blurring and focus as opposites

If something is blurred it is out of focus?

when something seems clear it does not seems blurry

"What is focus -and who has the right to say what is legitimate focus?"

Julia Margaret Cameron 1 (1866)

Attempt at writing something

It all happened so fast it is all a blur to me now.

In Image processing blurring something would mean that a given object is obscured or smoothed out with graphic software. Typically this technique of smoothing out is used to reduce noise and detail in an image. This technique is also known as the Gaussian Blur (named after the scientist and mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss). When using this filter in a small amount objects look smoother and less sharp but when used in a higher amount the objects get obscured in such an amount that the original image or text becomes unrecognisable or unreadable. The initial image cannot be seen anymore. It is decided by someone or something that the image is not supposed to be seen. the image gets layered with a smoothed mask.

One could think of numerous reasons to use such a filter; license plates of vehicles, credit card numbers, faces or aerial views of military or governmental complexes. But who decides what should be seen clear and what not? And what should you do when you lost your glasses and everything is just a blur?


Blurred real estate in Berlin. Many German citizens requested Google to blur their property on Google Maps after many reviewed requests and blurred imagery Google decided to discontinue Streetview in most parts of Germany because it was not profitable anymore.


When you cannot


However blurring an object to an extent that the original image is obscured to an amount that the original cannot be observed or read anymore is


It all happened so long ago that it's just a blur to me now.

The last few days seem to have gone by in a blur.

To blur fact and fiction.

If I don't wear my glasses, everything is just a blur.


Blurring

Google takes a number of steps to protect the privacy of individuals when Street View imagery is published to Google Maps.

We have developed cutting-edge face and license plate blurring technology that is designed to blur identifiable faces and license plates within Google-contributed imagery in Street View. If you see that your face or licence plate requires additional blurring, or if you would like us to blur your entire house, car or body, submit a request using the "Report a problem" tool. Please note, however, that once Google blurs an image, the effect is permanent. If you submit a request to have your house blurred from Street View imagery, all historical and future images of your house will also be blurred.

  1. Quoted in Vanishing Presence, p. 66, and presented by Helmut Gernsheim: Julia Margaret Carter: Her Life and Photographic Work, Millerton, NY, Aperture, 1975, p. 69. About Vanishing Presence, see footnote 4. ↩︎