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Obama looking at girl photo is a lesson to all
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The photo flashed around the world yesterday, causing quite a few laughs as it went. Why? Because it seemed to show President Obama being less than discreet in admiring a young woman at the G8 Summit. While the photo may have some dreading Bill Clinton-like behavior in another president, is the photo real? Cameras don't lie, do they?
The camera may not lie, but photographers, and in this case, photo editors, certainly can bend the truth a bit. The Obama “photo” is a case in point. This was not a still photograph captured by a press photographer using a still camera, but an individual frame from a video. Modern digital video cameras operate by taking still shots in extremely quick succession, then running the pictures together to create the illusion of motion. Editing software can allow people to disassemble a video clip frame by frame and then use individual shots from the video as photographs. This is exactly what was done with the Obama “photo.” While the individual frame itself can look awfully incriminating, the video reveals the whole story, somewhat absolving President Obama of any inappropriate behavior. However, for French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the story may not be so clear.
While the “photo” provided untold amusement to many, it goes to show that pictures are powerful. President Obama was lucky in that the full video showed the whole story. If viewers only had the “photo” to go on, perception of the president would undoubtedly be very different. And once something hits the Internet, there is going back as people download the image, pass it around, and post it to other Web Sites. Once something gets online, it stays there.
Moral of the story: pictures can make or break peoples' reputations and it is best to be very careful of what photos you are posting online, think Myspace, Facebook, ect.
For more info:
The photo and full video
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