Ok, for starters, "Tolerance" doesn't generally involve depicting someone you don't like as a bloodthirsty vampire. For some reason, this motif seems to appear quite often in the Arab world, though. Check out this poster of Condoleeza Rice. It's not her best pose, I'd say.But what really strikes me as odd with this photograph, is that it purports to be an ambulance. Are there many ambulances in the Middle East which are the front-end of a Mercedes Benz grafted to what appears to be the back of a Land Rover? I haven't seen any of these models in the Red Cross inventory... While it's possible that this is some private medical company's ambulance, it's more likely that the car has been placed there, poster and all, as a shameless propaganda stunt. (Correction: This ambulance is totally normal. I'm the one that needs to be examined here, as I seem to have Sillius Gooseitis. All in a day's work here at Rancho Kooko!)
They could've at least gotten a picture of Condoleeza smiling.
UPDATE 28-AUG-2006 14:23 EST: Apparently, our little Condi poster is a travelling road show. It seems to have made an appearance in Beirut shortly after Kofi Annan walked through. I'm sure he stopped by and autographed it at some point, the terrorist lover he is. One thing that is interesting about the poster—So far, it's only showing up in FAUXtographs taken by the Associated Press' Matt Dunham. Coincidence? I doubt it. I'm sure ol' Matt has plenty of copies of that poster in his personal luggage to hand out to all of the Hezzies that want it.
Does this make the gentleman with the flip-flop (yes, the tired old Arab insult—I'm sure Condi is totally offended over here) on her face a "Hezbian?"
I can keep the puns a-comin' all day here, folks.
UPDATE 29-AUG-2006 09:19 EST: It seems that CounterTerrorism Blog has found some information that illustrates how orchestrated the "spontaneous" pro-Hezbullah demonstrations were when Kofi came through Beirut. I'm shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you.
UPDATE 22:03 EST: Reader Anna from Myrtus notes that I'm totally incorrect on the ambulance, and informs us that this is a known Mercedes-Benz model. This goes to show why you, the Reader, are so important to me. I've barely got two legs to stand on my own with, what with my credibility in tatters and all. Thanks for keeping me honest there, Anna!
Curses, foiled again!
Zooming out, we see our mongrel vehicle. I doubt this thing was ever really in service as an ambulance... Notice that the poster has been moved, though! We're no longer able to see the windscreen in this photograph, which was uncovered in the previous one, as the poster was hanging off the side of the vehicle! As I don't see anyone else around, I can only imagine that it's Matt Dunham himself that moved the poster, presumably to get a better shot.
I thought photographers were above staging photos, Matt!
Notice that our poster is now a travelling road show. Also notice that this photograph was taken by the same FAUXtographer as before. I wonder if he carries it around in a bag, to pass out to anyone who wants to hold it up?
Tags: fauxtography matt dunham type3fraud AP #Israel/Lebanon War 2006
Comments:
Thank you for sharing. My comments were somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but I guess that didn't exactly translate into electrons when I posted this.
I'd love it if you'd continue checking in here and keeping an eye on me, though—I always love hearing commentary on my observations from inside the industry, especially when they shed light on areas in which I am mistaken. You can always contact me directly if you wish to communicate in private, of course.
Regards,
Brian
You're absolutely right. No "highly regarded" reporter of any stripe has [url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=22391_Fauxtography_Updates&only][i]ever[/i] staged anything before[/url].
[center]
[i]A slowpoke for your efforts.[/i][/center]
And yeah, I will openly admit that this article is totally conjecture, and is not supported by any shred of evidence. 'Course, it was written [i]a year and a half ago[/i]—less than a [i]month[/i] into this blog's life—so perhaps a bit of rampant conjecture would be understandable?
I have since that time actually started [url=http://www.snappedshot.com/archives/899-Winning-Friends-and-Influencing-People.html][i]meeting[/i] people[/url] "in" the industry, and have learned quite a lot about photojournalism since then.
But hey, if you want to pick bones with this site, you're more than welcome to. I always enjoy reading feedback on some of the stuff I throw up here. But please, do feel free to start with [url=http://www.snappedshot.com/]something a [i]touch[/i] more recent[/url].
Regards,
Brian
