Fake photos are the holy grail for reshaping the world. If we use them in their naive ordinary context we are inclined to think that they represent real events. But today it is harder to believe that a photo is an authentic document reporting an event witnessed by an impartial photographer. A photo has lost his property of evidence, because in some political situations it represent a visual lie and ironically needs evidence to ‘prove his evidence’.The following excerpt is a good example.
..”Evidence is accumulating that the Chinese regime orchestrated violence in Lhasa in order
to discredit the peaceful protests of Buddhist monks.
According to the Dalai Lama’s Chinese translator, Ngawang Nyendra, a witness reported that a Chinese policeman in Lhasa disguised himself as a Tibetan and joined the protesters holding a knife in his hand. This witness also recognized the man from BBC news footage and news photos provided by China.
A Chinese woman from Thailand (who prefers that her name not be used) was studying in Lhasa when the protests broke out in March. As one of her friends is a policeman, she visited him at the local police station quite often and got to know other policemen there.
(Photo: The upper portion shows the uncropped photo distributed to news media by the Chinese Embassy, with a Chinese policeman in disguise holding a knife;
The lower portion, the edited version of the same scene distributed by the Chinese Embassy after the man’s identity was revealed at a rally in Darmasala/ from the Epochtimes website). Source: chinaview.wordpress.com
After the protests on March 14, she and other foreigners were sent to the police station where she saw a man with a knife in his hand walking in with some arrested Tibetans. The man later took off the Tibetan-style clothes and put on a police uniform.
This woman was sent out of Lhasa with other foreigners the next day. When she arrived in India via Nepal, she recognized the policeman she had seen in Tibetan garb from BBC TV news and photos that the Chinese embassy had provided to the media.
Ngawang Nyendra said the witness was shocked when she saw the policeman in the BBC broadcast. She realized then that the man had disguised himself as a Tibetan in order to incite people to riot.
(photo: Cropped copy of the Chinese policeman that was released by the Chinese Embassy purporting to show a Tibetan with a knife taking part in a riot/ from the Epochtimes website)”… Source: chinaview.wordpress.com
Here is another story from the Gaza Strip, this time the photos are not photoshop-doctored but staged in a visual lie: “Darkness at Noon — MSM (“mainstream media”) Plays Along with Hamas Photo Staging .”
5 Comments
April 9, 2008 at 01:45
[...] shlomo wrote an interesting post today on Visual Lies in Tibet and the Gaza Strip and Salvador DaliHere’s a quick excerptFake photos are the holy grail for reshaping the world. If we use them in their naive ordinary context we are inclined to think that they represent real events. But today it is harder to believe that a photo is an authentic document … [...]
April 29, 2008 at 02:23
There are images of the fake Dali on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26092432@N03/
May 16, 2008 at 08:03
I have recieved fake photos against Jews from muslims more than once. A couple showed Arabs in uniforms with their heads turned so that their ethnicity couldn’t be exposed. One showed an unconcerned gransmother and grand child with an alleged “soldier” pointing a gun, with a caption saying, “Israelis handing out candy to children”. The child and his grandmother weren’t even looking at him or his gun, but carrying on with unconcerned business. And the gun wasn’t pointed at them. Another showed a Palestinian in a uniform who looked like the fraternal twin of the Palestinian lady he was loosely grasping the sides of. It said, “AN Israeli helping a woman to cross the street”. She wasn’t looking over at the nearby photographer for help, but merely momentarily posing for the camera. Her relaxed, unconcerned natural look was unnatural for a woman alleged to be harassed with a third party to look over at for help.
Then there was a picture of a plastic doll in a crib, said to be a baby Israelis killed. Those that make those fake photos, meanwhile, commit unphotgraphed attrocities.
April 15, 2009 at 14:27
After reading through this article, I feel that I need more information on the topic. Can you share some resources please?
May 18, 2009 at 06:21
Please listen everbody. The Chinese government is the Chinese communist party. That “party” is and has been for decades known as the BIG LIE. You cannot believe one single word it speaks because for every word of truth it utters we cannot even begin to tally the lies. See, most of the time we find out about lies AFTER THE FACT. China sends lies in real time and with the advent of the internet a lot of people assume the truth of what they read when they read it. The chicom is so clever as to have picked up on the fact that they can use the “lag time” to sell its bill of goods, evil as it is, and move on with a profit. Are you buying that bill of goods?