photography

Odd looking photographer? Must be a terrorist

Julien — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:16:28 +0100

The London Metropolitan police have just issued new measures in the fight against terrorism. During a five week campaign police officers are expected to stop and search more “odd” looking people and the public are being warned to report anything “suspicious”. But after just two weeks since its launch the public are starting to question whether it’s infringing on civil liberties. Photographers in particular are sick of being questioned by policemen and being told to move on. To voice their complaints, artists are creating their own versions of the campaign’s posters.

The other face of Tehran

Julien — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:09:33 +0100

After years spent in Los Angeles, Azad returns to live in Tehran. He wanders his vast and rambling town capturing these striking images on his simple mobile phone. His message: ‘Don't believe what they tell you; life goes on in Tehran'.

What a photo! Thanks Photoshop…

Julien — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 11:49:00 +0100

According to the Chengdu Evening News [original article in Chinese here], this image has been reproduced by almost 200 foreign media. “Dajiala”, the web-user who exposed the sham, says he discovered the hoax by studying the EFIX details which are automatically registered in the file of a digital image. The details proved that the picture was in fact a montage of various images taken on different days.

And the prize for Best Actress?! We’re not entirely sure…

Julien — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:57:27 +0100

Iran's International Fajr Film Festival was hosted in Tehran last week for the 26^th time. But pictures from this year's edition of the popular festival offered an unusual view of the showbiz affair. The FARS news agency blurred out the faces of female guests, making them almost unrecognisable. Our Observer for Iran, feminist Farnaz Seifi, explains why.

UPDATE (17.30 15 Feb. 08): Thanks to comments on this post, we have found photos posted by the Fars agency where actresses' faces are not blurred. The photos are part of a different set found at a seperate link. This would suggest that the agency has no consistent policy on whether or not their photographers can show the faces of female actresses.