[Robert Capa’s Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death, Cerro Muriano, September 5, 1936] The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the world’s greatest, for sure. Of this 1936 photo, it explains: Possibly the most famous of war photographs, this image is all but synonymous with the name of its maker, Robert Capa, who was proclaimed in 1938, at the age of twenty-five, “the greatest war photographer in the world” in the British magazine “Picture Post.” Taken at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War and showing the moment of a bullet’s impact on a loyalist soldier, this photograph has become an emblem of the medium’s unrivaled capacity to depict sudden death.
It is hard for me to believe that a Jewish photographer would use his art to lie about WW2. Fortunately we still have movies like Schindler's List and all those Holocaust survivor books to tell us what really happened.
In all seriousness, Capra's comment that he shot the photo without looking alone puts a lie to the authenticity of the photo.
It really is the case that everything we are told is a lie. That is why it is so hard for people to see the truth. It is too uncomfortable to believe that nearly everything they know is a lie. Doing so is bad for the ego and means you can't trust anything you haven't directly experienced so there is no simple solution.
There is a movie titled "Symphony of Six Million". The plot is a Jewish doctor has all kinds of problems, both personal and professional, et cetera. Since the term "six million" is in the title, is it a "Holocaust" film? Not exactly. The movie came out in 1932. But, you know, "six million" is an awfully powerful number for Jews.
A big red pill for me was seeing all the NYT headlines from the early 20th century warning that 6 million Jews were at risk of being killed by the Tsar. I have read but don't know if true that the 6 million figure is in a Jewish prophecy.
In my younger years, I put a lot of credence in photo evidence, especially things like news footage. I always thought simply "seeing is believing." Pretty naive. Later, seeing reports and even footage showing how things like this can be (and often are) created or staged like CNN has been known to do cured me of automatically trusting such stuff.
Now, technology such as "deep fakes" and what seems to be an increased desire by the purveyors of visual media to mislead is making us less knowledgeable rather than more so. More's the pity. I guess we need to start looking at all of it first of all as creative art and fiction rather than as some kind of literal truth.
Anyone who has seen the movie "Fargo" might remember the text at the beginning saying that it was based on a true story. Later this was discovered to be a lie, but it is amusing to notice that it actually makes the movie more interesting to believe that it is so.
Lots of "historical" pictures were staged, like Iwo Jima, etc. I am not sure either about those famous pictures in Vietnam (naked little girl running, Vietcong being shot) although those look genuine. There's no lack of real horrors captured on camera, although not always with great composition, so sometimes they need to be remade. No big deal, if you think of photography more like painting or recreation than as a faithful portrayal or reality (even more so now, when any kind of digital image is suspect a priori).
Very interesting indeed, especially coming from an accomplished photographer-of-the-world like Linh. More interesting is the salient point that humans are just natural-born liars (lying majorly aids survival, for one obvious thing). So when language was invented, probably around 100,000 years ago (and what a blockbuster THAT turned out to be), you can be sure that bullshit was invented right along with it.
i joined the channel "project blue beam, holographic technology" on telegram recently. combined with deep fake video sophistication it's now impossible to determine what is real. what is a truth seeker's defense for this?--none, i think. we have a deep instinct to know when something is real or not, but instinct is being brainwashed out of everyone. so what? --just get yourself some popcorn and wait for the alien invasion next year? i had an acquaintance at the gym who was a veteran and some kind of special forces type (currently a bouncer). being little and having grown up in a tough neighborhood i have always been kind of scared and felt like a bunny in the amazon. but it was quite shocking to me when i heard him say it--you could see it on him even through the clonazepan.
A true street photographer, Winogrand sneaked nearly all his photos. He said he would eye some subjects to get a sort of tacit approval before snapping, but it's clear from the photos themselves this rarely happened.
In California, he shot from passing cars, but as a body of work they aren't as successful as his New York photos. He was best just walking around and prowling on people.
Compare Winogrand to someone like Zoe Strauss, who always asked for permission.
So Ron Unz says to Richard Hanania, "Why do you think I built a website full of Nazis, communists, Russian nationalists overdosing on copium, and Steve Sailer?" Apparently, the answer is because Ron likes conflict.
It is hard for me to believe that a Jewish photographer would use his art to lie about WW2. Fortunately we still have movies like Schindler's List and all those Holocaust survivor books to tell us what really happened.
In all seriousness, Capra's comment that he shot the photo without looking alone puts a lie to the authenticity of the photo.
It really is the case that everything we are told is a lie. That is why it is so hard for people to see the truth. It is too uncomfortable to believe that nearly everything they know is a lie. Doing so is bad for the ego and means you can't trust anything you haven't directly experienced so there is no simple solution.
There is a movie titled "Symphony of Six Million". The plot is a Jewish doctor has all kinds of problems, both personal and professional, et cetera. Since the term "six million" is in the title, is it a "Holocaust" film? Not exactly. The movie came out in 1932. But, you know, "six million" is an awfully powerful number for Jews.
A big red pill for me was seeing all the NYT headlines from the early 20th century warning that 6 million Jews were at risk of being killed by the Tsar. I have read but don't know if true that the 6 million figure is in a Jewish prophecy.
In my younger years, I put a lot of credence in photo evidence, especially things like news footage. I always thought simply "seeing is believing." Pretty naive. Later, seeing reports and even footage showing how things like this can be (and often are) created or staged like CNN has been known to do cured me of automatically trusting such stuff.
Now, technology such as "deep fakes" and what seems to be an increased desire by the purveyors of visual media to mislead is making us less knowledgeable rather than more so. More's the pity. I guess we need to start looking at all of it first of all as creative art and fiction rather than as some kind of literal truth.
Anyone who has seen the movie "Fargo" might remember the text at the beginning saying that it was based on a true story. Later this was discovered to be a lie, but it is amusing to notice that it actually makes the movie more interesting to believe that it is so.
Lots of "historical" pictures were staged, like Iwo Jima, etc. I am not sure either about those famous pictures in Vietnam (naked little girl running, Vietcong being shot) although those look genuine. There's no lack of real horrors captured on camera, although not always with great composition, so sometimes they need to be remade. No big deal, if you think of photography more like painting or recreation than as a faithful portrayal or reality (even more so now, when any kind of digital image is suspect a priori).
Very interesting indeed, especially coming from an accomplished photographer-of-the-world like Linh. More interesting is the salient point that humans are just natural-born liars (lying majorly aids survival, for one obvious thing). So when language was invented, probably around 100,000 years ago (and what a blockbuster THAT turned out to be), you can be sure that bullshit was invented right along with it.
Very interesting, Linh. Thanks so much!
i joined the channel "project blue beam, holographic technology" on telegram recently. combined with deep fake video sophistication it's now impossible to determine what is real. what is a truth seeker's defense for this?--none, i think. we have a deep instinct to know when something is real or not, but instinct is being brainwashed out of everyone. so what? --just get yourself some popcorn and wait for the alien invasion next year? i had an acquaintance at the gym who was a veteran and some kind of special forces type (currently a bouncer). being little and having grown up in a tough neighborhood i have always been kind of scared and felt like a bunny in the amazon. but it was quite shocking to me when i heard him say it--you could see it on him even through the clonazepan.
Beautiful essay, thanks Linh.
A lot of fake or super fake pics can be found here:
CNN's 25 of the most iconic photographs
But the mother of all fake photographs is 17/26! Enjoy and say hi to Mr. Dinh, thank you.
I wonder if Garry Winogrand ever provoked his subjects or did he ask for permission before hand/staged the photos. They seem to be real moments.
Hi marantz820dc,
A true street photographer, Winogrand sneaked nearly all his photos. He said he would eye some subjects to get a sort of tacit approval before snapping, but it's clear from the photos themselves this rarely happened.
In California, he shot from passing cars, but as a body of work they aren't as successful as his New York photos. He was best just walking around and prowling on people.
Compare Winogrand to someone like Zoe Strauss, who always asked for permission.
Linh
So Ron Unz says to Richard Hanania, "Why do you think I built a website full of Nazis, communists, Russian nationalists overdosing on copium, and Steve Sailer?" Apparently, the answer is because Ron likes conflict.
https://www.richardhanania.com/p/ron-unz-confronts-the-far-right
Is this a real interview or a parody? I dislike this Hanania guy, so I haven't read it.
I only skimmed it myself. Whatever the substance of it, I was put off by its arch tone.
Thanks Linh;
Thanks for exposing the bs that's going on in the world.
Always looking forward to your next posting and pictures!