As the “photo mentor” for the Unleashed team, I’m in charge of getting all the photos ready for publication. That includes gathering staff-generated photos (and getting caption information for them!) as well as some handout photos that they get for their stories. We much, much prefer photos from team members, but sometimes that isn’t possible. Recently, a team member sent me a mix of his photos and some handouts. We’ll be using his, of course. Like I said, we like to use staff generated photos unless it’s not possible. But there’s another, even bigger reason we won’t be using this one particular handout photo: it’s a fake. It might not be evident at first glance except that things just don’t look right. Once you take a closer look, it becomes pretty clear.
So here it is, a big group shot of everyone together at once. Except it isn’t. It’s a bunch of photos put together. Take a look.
Inside the circle, look at the guy at the top: the sun is coming from behind his head. The guy at the bottom has a strong shadow cast on his shoulder, whereas others in the photo have no shadows. There’s more.
The two boys in the photo. The one to the left has no shadow, the one at right has a strong shadow.
Again, a strong shadow on the guy at center, but not on those around him.
I don’t blame the team member for this. The photo was given to him that way, I’m sure, and he probably didn’t look closely enough at it before sending it in. But I looked at it, and I discovered the forgeries.
Once more we’re reminded that there are fake photos out there. Some of them misrepresent reality in far more damaging ways than this one, but this one is no different. We don’t create fake photos and we don’t run fake photos.
Picture This | seattletimes.com blog
Oh my Goodness! Someone actually used a photo editing program to put together a composite group image, what a big surprise! Really? What’s the big deal? Are the people added to original not part of the Youth Circus, I doubt it. Maybe everyone was not available for the original, or others joined the Youth Circus after the original was taken. So what!?! It’s not like Obama, Oprah, and Jesus were added trying to pump up credentials. Your spotting of a “fake” is ridiculous, and even worse, you think your some big hero for not publishing a composite. Get over yourself! ps. Welcome to the 21st century, get used to it, and try reporting some REAL news.
So what….some people where photo shopped in because they weren’t able to get everyone together at the same time. This way none of the kids or adults were left out. These kids travel all summer long and perform for kids all over the state, they work very hard. They set up and tear down all the equipment(under adult supervision). The Wenatchee Youth Circus is celebrating it’s 60th year this summer. It’s a great organization that teaches kids responsibility, keeps them out of trouble and gives the graduating seniors scholarships. Calling it a “fake” photo is a little far fetched just because they added in some folks.