Lebonon Photos Part 2

A lot of people have been going through photos from Lebanon trying to find more photoshopped/faked/staged photos.

This site claims to have found some discrepancies with a series of four photographs.

The sequence begins here, at 7:30 a.m. ET on July 12. This picture's caption: "Lebanese citizens run shortly after Israeli warplanes bombed Qasmiya Bridge near Tyre in south Lebanon July 12, 2006." It isn't clear how much time has gone by since the bombing, or why they're running. Note that in this series of pictures, no people are visible other than Hajj's cast of characters.

Make special note of the background: the trees; the building on the right; and the car that is parked along the right side of the road.

Also note the low wall on the far left of the image. Note how it disappears halfway across the bridge.

Also note the traffic divider pylons. Note the ones that are on their side.

Next photo, 11:10 a.m., ET. One of our "citizens" remembers that he is a civil defense worker and runs back across the bridge in the opposite direction; fortunately, the bridge is still open so he can do that. Caption: "A Lebanese civil defence representative runs shortly after Israeli warplanes bombed Qasmiya Bridge near Tyre in south Lebanon July 12, 2006."

But wait! There is now an upside-down car on the left side of the road in this picture. Where did it come from? Note the pattern of damage, with at least three large holes visible, on the overturned car.

Actually, I don't think that the bridge is open. The problem is the low angle of the photograph coupled with the extreme foreshortening caused by the use of a long telephoto lens.

Note the pylons again.

Also note the bit of pavement visible to the right of the man's arm. note that a bit up and to the right of this, you can see a white area of pavement.





See the pavement?

Next, we're back to 8:29 a.m., but now it wouldn't be possible to run across the bridge, because it's out. Our intrepid civil defense representative surveys the damage.

Same road, same buildings, same trees, but now the bridge is gone, and the bomb appears to have landed right where the upside-down car was in the prior photo. (Note the position of the wall on the left side of the road.) No doubt the car was blown to smithereens, or washed down the river. But wait! The car has magically been transported to another location on the same road! The time stamp on this one is 8:43 a.m., and the caption says: "Lebanese citizens run near a ruined car shortly after Israeli warplanes bombed Qasmiya Bridge near Tyre in south Lebanon July 12, 2006." It's unquestionably the same car, and we're seeing it from the same perspective; check out the damaged areas

Again, this is the same car in the same position, it just looks like it has been moved because the photographer moved and is using a different lens.



[edit on 7-8-2006 by HowardRoark]

I dont follow. What is under scrutiny here? Photoshopping or incongruent time stamps?

Im not saying Hajj hasnt doctored these photos I just dont see anything to indicate it. Also if he did doctor these photos what is it to aid in portraying that wouldnt be portrayed sans the doctoring?

Israel bombed a bridge. That's hardly controversial. Israel admitted it's been bombing bridges.

[edit on 7/8/06 by subz]

The folks over at Little Green Footballs are saying that this is evidence of staged / altered photographs.

The truth is, the photographer just varied the perspective and used different lenses for different effects.

Ah I see. Well I guess it doesnt help Hajj's credibility since he admitted doctoring photos and was fired for his efforts. But trying to discredit all his photos is kind of a wasted exercise.

Hajj: Israel bombed a bridge

Skeptics: Hajj doctors his photos, this photo therefore is a fake.

Reality: No one disputes Israel bombed the bridge, including Israel.

Subz your insertion of logic into an emotional discussion is too pertinent to be relevant.

Obviously there is more then one photographer there. If you look in the last pic its not him on his knees with a camera if hes taking the picture.

So are you saying these bridges were not taken out even though the IAF already said it did? The photog's pic have been recanted, so does that mean that Infrastructure is still there or its been bombed? I've never seen the majority of these debunked pics. Did someone get a hold of these from Reuters or something? Im really curious to hear this photographers side of things. I can only imagine how many people this must have taken to alter these photos and rush them to print. 920 pics is a lot of chopping to do.


Pie

On the other hand, there does appear to be an inordinant number of "staged" or questionable photographs about.

mypetjawa.mu.nu...

One more link

Those poor toys

www.slublog.com...

But as Subz pointed out, the whole debate over the "staged" photos is irrelevant.

Staged photos or not, the destruction pictured is still real - regardless of an unscrupulous photographer's attemt to exploit it (whether to advance a political agenda, or simply his career, we don't know).

IMHO the blog uproar over this is itself staged to serve a propaganda aim - to cast doubt on all reports of civilian deaths in Lebanon.

Great points Howard. It's up to the photojournalist to give us a good point of view as to what is going on. I can see where some might think the car had moved. This is just a matter of a point of view. There's nothing wrong with having different pictures of the same thing, but if it's published as two events happening on different days people will cry "propaganda". (Rightly so)

The children's toy images are set-ups purely for dramatic effect. I could take pictures of toys in my neighbors front yard, but that doesn't mean there are dead kids nearby. These images are taken to give that impression. You can create propaganda without altering images. No one has griped about all the toy images, but it's obvious what the implications are.

to cast doubt on all reports of civilian deaths in Lebanon

I think it's more of a question of "Can we trust the media?" I have no doubt that hundreds of civilians have died. Part of the uproar is that this seems to be one-sided. Where are the pictures of children's toys and fake-dead people in Israel?

[edit on 9-8-2006 by dbates]

You fail to grasp the problem here.

It is one thing to take pictures with an emotional bias, or at least to get an amotional response from the viewer. That is the essence of photojournalism

It is quite another thing to stage or fake photographs to achieve that same reaction.

That is the essence of propaganda.

The fact that the western media is allowing itself to be used like this is disgraceful.

Look at that last link, the one with all the different images of the clean untouched child’s toys on the rubble.

Those are obviously faked photographs.

How come none of the Arab stringers and photogs ever take pictures of the hezbolla rockets being launched?

Since all the accusations I have see so far revolve around this particular photographer, it's not terribly surprising that it's "one sided".

It seems he is only working in Lebanon.

And yes, I understand the issue, but the idea that this is something new and unique is a little dishonest. Most of the more famous photos of the US Civil War are now known to have been staged. The photo of the Marines on Iwo Jima raising the flag over Mt Suribachi? Staged.

[edit on 8/9/06 by xmotex]

At this point it appears that the particualr photographer was opperating under a nubmer of aliases.

Some of those toy pictures were taken by different photographers also.