Shaking the Dead
Not a PhotoShop, but quite obviously staged for Reuters cameraman Ali Hashisho's benefit, adding drama to the already dramatic picture of a hand protruding from the rubble. Pay special attention to the section of concrete-reinforcing iron rebar just over the victim's hand. Another photo from the scene, this time from Mohammed Zaatari of the Associated Press. Notice the iron rebar has been bent out of the way, moved up and to the viewer's left, but that the rescuer's grasp on the victims' hand has been reestablished. Another photo from Mohammed Zaatari. Perhaps it is merely an illusion due to how this photo was cropped, but it appears as if the rescuer may have moved slightly forward so that his hand is more parallel with the bottom of the photo, and that the rebar appears to have been bent downward to facilitate this pose. Why would a rescuer move a piece of rebar two or possibly three times, reestablishing contact with the hand of a corpse each time, if not to create a more dramatic photo op for the Reuters and Associated cameramen assembled? Update: A brilliant catch. The Passion of the Toys.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 02:34 PM
Comments
Posted by: Bill Faith at August 07, 2006 03:50 PM (n7SaI)
Posted by: Purple Avenger at August 07, 2006 04:23 PM (c/xwT)
And, you object to a piece of rebar being moved?
Think about his for a second. Having photogprahed numerous disaster scenes myself (including Ground Zero) I can tell you without fail that you are barking up the wrong tree.
Why? Because to get to the victim in the picture, odds are that many peices of cement and rebar and other items were moved.
Is the photo posed? Yes. But, it is a very common pose amongst disaster photographers to convey scale (a childs hand for example to an adult hand) and color differentiation.
You obvioiusly don't understand the real world function of the picture. The first thing that every rescue worker (and some photographers if they are the first to find a victim) do once a body is found, is to grasp the hand to see if it is warm or cold. You know, alive or dead. As fate would have it, usually, it's the hands or the feet that stick out first. And, sometimes you find someone alive and that person is pulled out.
As a documentary photographer, this shot seems fairly common. It's also a cultural image. Touching a dead person is an act of serioius spiritual compassion in many other cultures. It is saying "you have been found, you are being taken care of..."
But, focusing upon the movement of the rebar, as you have, as some indication of overt posing, is just petty. As I said, its probable that many pounds of rubble was moved to get to the hand in the first place.
Do you object to that too?
Posted by: Camera A at August 07, 2006 07:02 PM (Vp1bn)
People are still dying. Israeli's and Lebanonese.
I think Yankee, you object more to the existence of pictures of the dead than to the content and the fact that propaganda points are being scored with the dead.
Reality check. When there are dead bodies in a war, there is nothing you can do to make that pain go down easier. And, there is plenty that others can do to ensure that the dead are not forgotten in the fog of war.
Posted by: Camera A at August 07, 2006 07:09 PM (Vp1bn)
As a documentary photographer, this shot seems fairly common. It's also a cultural image. Touching a dead person is an act of serioius [sic] spiritual compassion in many other cultures. It is saying "you have been found, you are being taken care of..."
Viola! That is the message that Camera A is selling. A shot of pathos; a shot of the horrors of war. Because otherwise we would not know that war involved killing and that war is horrible. Good God! (back of the hand to the forehead) I would not have know that except for Camera A’s explanation. What a brilliants, original insight!
By the way Camera A, how many hands have to touch a lifeless corpse before we know the persons’ dead? One, two, three or as many as you can find?
Posted by: Moenyrunner at August 07, 2006 09:15 PM (qUOeH)
Why is the child's head wrapped in cloth? Cloth that was apparently wrapped around the head before the body was sullied by the rubble on top of it? Funny things happen to loose textiles in explosions, but based upon other evidences of late, one has to wonder.
I mean, if the left can believe in 9-11 conspiracies, I can believe in a liberal, left- wing biased media that is so willing to concoct an anti-American story that it is capable of anything.
In view of Al Taqyyia, the work of Muslim stringers in the Middle East cannot be trusted.
Posted by: Warren Bonestel at August 07, 2006 10:45 PM (FshOV)
Posted by: johnny nubian at August 07, 2006 10:55 PM (eZsDK)
Posted by: just one voice at August 08, 2006 06:28 AM (X2tAw)
Posted by: PEPPI at August 08, 2006 07:41 AM (W7W7X)
Posted by: Specter at August 08, 2006 09:18 AM (ybfXM)
The Arabs are shaping world opinion with this trickery too, as any number of polls will show ( We know it can't be the Israeli bombing, or course, because we now know that is all photoshop).
The fact that the MSM has been overrun by Jihadists and Hezzbollah sympathizers is never so transparent as when we tune in every year to see those Årab-Americans handing each other awards on Oscar night.
Posted by: skip at August 08, 2006 09:19 AM (JxU2K)
Answer... Its probably the same poor child that was used in the other staged photos from Quana. You see, they read the blogs also, sooooo they need to adapt to a new tactic. God forbid its the same little girl that was loaded and unloaded in the ambulance.
Posted by: Faithful Patriot at August 08, 2006 11:49 AM (elhVA)
Posted by: Pere Ubu at August 08, 2006 12:39 PM (i2Ofv)
Posted by: huyakin at August 08, 2006 01:41 PM (COdwP)
That doesn't make it right, but it's been done for a long time.
The problem I have is with the Overall picture being portrayed. Isreal has every right to defend itself against a TERRORIST orginazition. The Media plays like it's Hezbolla that is the downtrodden. The MENTAL picture is worse then any others, staged photo's add to the false picture created.
Posted by: Retired Navy at August 08, 2006 01:56 PM (elhVA)
Posted by: ron at August 08, 2006 03:59 PM (fBcmZ)
But the thoughts that this is the SAME child, the hand is the right size, are very chilling... and creepy. BUT, It wouldn't surprise me at all.
Posted by: sometruth at August 08, 2006 05:17 PM (0vHmq)
I think this statement says more about your headspace than anything else.
Posted by: Purple Avenger at August 08, 2006 06:00 PM (c/xwT)
It amazes me that the same hapless Arabs who can't win a war or make the desert bloom have now become the masters, the originators, of media manipulation.
You're absolutely right, after all, making the desert bloom, or winning a war, is just as difficult as manipulating the media, or running Photoshop.
Perhaps they didn't manage to win a war, or make the desert bloom because they are freaking corrupt; then you wonder why the Gaza strip is still a hell hole. After paying for the fancy houses, the Mercedez & BMWs, and vacations, you don't end up with much for the population, do you?
Lay off the weed, and then perhaps you'll be able to remember these videos. I guess the neocons were responsible for al-Durah too.
Posted by: dna at August 09, 2006 08:27 PM (xjpGM)
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