20 October 2009

more failure and fakery

Begin here for Erroll Morris’ wonderful accounts about past and present photographic falsehoods. What’s amazing to me is that there is no doubt about the “truth” that the photographs which he discusses aimed to illustrate (that there was a severe drought in North Dakota in 1936; that Iran was developing longer-ranged missiles.) But the arguments and accusations have flown due to the details of the images themselves, and how they were made. Maybe someday people will finally divest themselves of these childish notions of Truth and Reality…. but until then, we photographers have an awful lot of power.

Photography as a Weapon

Part One of "The Case of the Inappropriate Alarm Clock", on the FSA photography program

…and so much more