famous Photoshoped North Korean funeral photo "mandatory kill", i.e. DO NOT USE

Bob Michaels

Bob Michaels

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famous Photoshoped North Korean funeral photo "mandatory kill", i.e. DO NOT USE

Yesterday's widely distributed photo of Kim Jong Il's funeral procession has been recalled and issued a "mandatory kill" or DO NOT USE order by the European PressPhoto Agency because it has been determined it was "Photoshopped" by the North Korean Central News Agency before release.

It appears that the "photoshopping" was cleaning up some distracting extraneous elements in the photo. But the message is coming through loud and clear "no photoshopping" or image manipulation other than cropping and contrast adjustments of any kind is allowed for news photos.

here is a link to the "photoshopped" image from the North Koreans and one shot independently at the same time from the same place.
 
it took me a second to notice the change myself.

it is seemingly innocuous, but troubling nonetheless. if you've ever seen a documentary about N. Korea, you will know this type of manipulation is merely the tip of the iceberg.
 
Those are actually two different photographs. The second car is in a different place. It is also a different crop. It seems that they did clean it up a bit, but that is not really surprising. The biggest secrets in North Korea won't have a camera coming within miles of them.
 
I wonder who sold them photoshop. I didn't know we had any trading going on with them. Perhaps they used a Chinese knock-off version???
 
CNNY said:
Those are actually two different photographs. The second car is in a different place. It is also a different crop. It seems that they did clean it up a bit, but that is not really surprising. The biggest secrets in North Korea won't have a camera coming within miles of them.
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yes that is what was said, one is official the other by a Japanese news agency!!!
🙄
 
The UN ordered all their flags to fly at half mast in mourning for the Great (Most Evil Tyrant) and Wonderful (Genocidal) North Korean Leader. So much for the ethics of the UN. If only it was for all the millions he murdered.
 
kshapero said:
The UN ordered all their flags to fly at half mast in mourning for the Great (Most Evil Tyrant) and Wonderful (Genocidal) North Korean Leader. So much for the ethics of the UN. If only it was for all the millions he murdered.
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I suppose they did the same for Ghadaffi and Sadam Hussein!!🙄
usual double standards!!
 
Gumby said:
I wonder who sold them photoshop. I didn't know we had any trading going on with them. Perhaps they used a Chinese knock-off version???
Click to expand...

I imagine that North Korea is just like Cuba where non encrypted copies of all current US software are readily available for little more than the cost of the blank DVDs. They think nothing of pirating software since they cannot buy it legally. Immediately after the release of Photoshop CS5, a friend in Cuba asked me if I wanted him to burn me a copy. Now he is not a photographer, has no use for Photoshop and does not even have a powerful enough computer to run it. But he has it. They just cannot relate to the concept of actually paying for something so intangible.
 
is this any worse than what 'western' governments do? post-hoc "enhanced" propaganda material isn't exactly new, neither here nor there.
a forest of glass houses and stones waiting to be thrown.


kshapero said:
The UN ordered all their flags to fly at half mast in mourning for the Great (Most Evil Tyrant) and Wonderful (Genocidal) North Korean Leader. So much for the ethics of the UN. If only it was for all the millions he murdered.
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dynamic ethics, huh...
 
Remember we kill for all that is good in the world while they kill for evil for they are minions of Santa (sic). I sleep better already.
 
Well, not much new with the idea of changing the contents of a photo. It was done in the days of film only too. Disallowing the use of such a photo for news can't really be argued. You are down a slippery slope when you do start allowing their use. Nobody wants to knowingly loose their integrity even a little bit.

Bob
 
I didn't have an issue with it in this case. They just wanted it to be a prettier picture. 😉 However, I know you have to say NO to photoshop for news photography for integrity. Besides, there are others ways to manipulate viewers and readers without using photoshop... 😉
 
I think its an absolute good that the press should absolutely reject any image that has been photoshopped. Even if only by a small amount. News images are supposed to represent the truth. Not some idealised representation of the truth. There is a place for photoshopping. In the news is not one of them.

Does anyone recall that only a few years ago images shot in Lebanon during the Israel action against militants were photoshopped to make smoke look more dense (and hence more sinister.) Fortunately the photoshopping in that instance was badly done and obvious.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adnan_Hajj_photographs_controversy
 
peterm1 said:
News images are supposed to represent the truth. Not some idealised representation of the truth. There is a place for photoshopping. In the news is not one of them.
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We all know the news isn't the truth anyway though. That said, you are correct... allowing photoshop would be a whole new level of dishonesty.
 
peterm1 said:
I think its an absolute good that the press should absolutely reject any image that has been photoshopped. Even if only by a small amount. News images are supposed to represent the truth. Not some idealised representation of the truth. There is a place for photoshopping. In the news is not one of them.

Does anyone recall that only a few years ago images shot in Lebanon during the Israel action against militants were photoshopped to make smoke look more dense (and hence more sinister.) Fortunately the photoshopping in that instance was badly done and obvious.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adnan_Hajj_photographs_controversy
Click to expand...

often news images can represent a distorted truth even if they are not photoshopped.

EDIT: jsrockit came first 😛
 
Bob Michaels said:
Yesterday's widely distributed photo of Kim Jong Il's funeral procession has been recalled and issued a "mandatory kill" or DO NOT USE order by the European PressPhoto Agency because it has been determined it was "Photoshopped" by the North Korean Central News Agency before release.

It appears that the "photoshopping" was cleaning up some distracting extraneous elements in the photo. But the message is coming through loud and clear "no photoshopping" or image manipulation other than cropping and contrast adjustments of any kind is allowed for news photos.

here is a link to the "photoshopped" image from the North Koreans and one shot independently at the same time from the same place.
Click to expand...



This is what photo editors get for being so easily "distracted" by Reality. And then they get all hot and bothered when the distractions are removed? Pfft.
 
I've just finished reading "Nothing to Envy" by Barbara Demick (on special Kindle Xmas offer). For anyone with an interest in what happens in North Korea this is a compelling read.
It makes you realise that although the news in the free world is often distorted, our freedom to point out that fact should be highly cherished.
 
freeranger said:
I've just finished reading "Nothing to Envy" by Barbara Demick (on special Kindle Xmas offer). For anyone with an interest in what happens in North Korea this is a compelling read.
It makes you realise that although the news in the free world is often distorted, our freedom to point out that fact should be highly cherished.
Click to expand...

Yes, truth in that.
 
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