photojournalism

The Bangladeshi way of watching a solar eclipse

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:12:55 +0200

Bangladeshi photojournalist Monirul Alam (his blog), sent us this photo, which he took this morning (July 22) on Patla Khan Lane in Old Dhaka. A Bangladeshi woman is trying to watch the solar eclipse the traditional way. "We use a plate with some water in it in order to protect our eyes."

US Army photoshops images of soldiers killed in Iraq

Ségolène Team Observers — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:46:54 +0200

The faces of the men in these photos, distributed on 18 September by the US Army, have been cut and copied onto the same body using photo editing software.

It was photo journalist Bob Owen, manager of San Antonio Express-News agency, who noticed the ploy. Associated Press, the agency that had distributed images, immediately withdrew them, agreeing that they had been "digitally altered".

The photos are of Darris Dawson and Wesley Durbin, who the army confirmed had died near Iskandariya, south of Baghdad, on 14 September. Very few details were given about their deaths. The Department of Defense website reported that they died "of wounds sustained in a non-hostile incident". CNN later reported that when questioned about the affair, the army disclosed that two people had been shot and killed by another soldier. The staement read: "We do know one soldier, a fellow noncommissioned officer, allegedly opened fire and mortally wounded his squad leader and fellow team leader."

The only difference between the two photos is the faces of the soldiers, and the names printed on their uniforms. Their poses, body forms, the placement of the US flag and their camouflage uniforms are identical. It seems that the image of Sergeant Dawson's head was placed on Sergeant Durbin's body with the use of Photoshop or other photo editing software.

The US Army is yet to give any explanation for editing the images.

Animation by FRANCE 24.

Did China's state news agency forge a photo?

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:47:34 +0200

A Chinese blogger has exposed the official news agency Xinhua for what appears to be a forged image. He noticed that two of the people present in the photo look remarkably similar.

The photo was taken during a visit from President Hu Jintao to the official Olympics site in Qingdao, where the watersports contests will take place. The site has been under the spotlight since it was overrun by a dangerous and polluting algae not long before the opening of the games. Hu Jintao came to the site to show the local press that the situation was under control, and to encourage athletes and organisers to double their efforts in the remaining weeks before the competition starts.

The blogger (also picked up by EastSouthWestNorth) says that the photo was altered, with one of the people in the crowd having been copy and pasted. We showed the image to Photoshop specialists, who confirmed that it had probably been altered. The duplicate's face is almost identical, except for being slightly wider, and he wears the same blue cord around his neck. But why would Xinhua make the same person appear twice in a photo?

Webusers leaving comments (in Chinese) on the blogger's post have thought up various scenarios. One says that the journalist might have wanted to fill a gap, another says that an important person might have been moved to the front and so had to be replaced.

The photo has been used by numerous Chinese news sites (China Daily, CCTV etc.), but until now there doesn't seem to be any video footage of the event.

We'll update this story if we get any further information about it. If you find something new, please post it in the comments section.

Photoshop pros in the Revolutionary Guards

Ségolène Team Observers — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:18:48 +0200

The photos of Iranian missiles released on Wednesday, July 9 made headlines around the world. But one of them, picked up by Agence France Presse (AFP), was found to be altered - most likely released by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official press office, Sepah News.

The relations were tense this week between the West and Iran, suspected of trying to obtain nuclear arms. The Islamic Republic's recent missile tests are a new stage in its bid for power. But not all went as planned for the organisers of the nuclear trials, well-covered by the media. They then decided to embellish their powerful image.