Pictures that Lie

Take a look at this first picture. Pretty shocking, isn't it? Now look at the two photographs at the end of this post. These are not nearly as moving. The first picture is actually a composite of the second two. This doctored image appeared in the Los Angeles Times, masquerading as an original, shortly after the U.S. led an invasion of Iraq.

A newspaper staff member first suspected the image had been altered when he noticed that the man squatting behind the soldier was pictured not once, but twice. After further inquiry, photographer Brian Walsky admitted that he had edited the images, saying that he had "tarnished the reputation" of the L.A. Times (Van Ripper; to read this article, click here). He claimed, however, that he only complied the amalgamation in order to improve the picture's "composition."

Walsky makes it appear as if the soldier is gesturing towards the civilian, as if warning or vanquishing him, when in actuality his gesture was unrelated to the man.

What is so disturbing, however, is not that he changed the meaning of the picture, for in fact, this was insignificant, as it had little effect on the story he was telling. The real issue is that Walsky destroyed the credibility of photojournalists. That the misleading image was detected only after the publication of the Times emphasized the fact that numerous other images' doctoring may have gone undetected. This was harmful indeed.

I was immediately drawn to this photograph because my Media Interp. class had looked at it briefly and I knew I wanted to learn more. Clearly, this is an important issue.

Van Ripper, Frank. "Manipulating Truth, Loosing Credibility". Washington Post. Web. 23 Feb 2010.