Photographer Takes Pics Of People In Public From 2 Perspectives And It Shows How Easily The Media Can Manipulate Reality Interview
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Perception is reality until proven otherwise. But our perception may change in an instant depending on exactly how much we know. Recently, two Danish photographers have taken this idea to a whole new level.
In these times of fake news, it’s hard to know what’s real anymore. Media manipulation is rife in some of the largest reporting outlets around the world. How do we know, from the pictures alone, that biased news articles and stories aren’t secretly being fed to us? It turns out, we can’t.
Photographers Ólafur Steinar Gestsson and Philip Davali conducted an experiment for the photo agency Ritzau Scanpix. The Copenhagen-based artists used their cameras and certain optical illusions to capture the same people chilling out outside on the same day. The trick was to use two different lenses — a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens — to create certain perspectives. Their photography techniques show a staggering difference in the perceived distance between these people. It makes us wonder if the journalism code of ethics is always being followed by photographers too.
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Telephoto-lens
Image credits: EPA / Philip Davali / Olafur Steinar RyE
Wide angle
Image credits: EPA / Philip Davali / Olafur Steinar RyE
Bored Panda contacted Kristian Djurhuus, the editorial manager at Ritzau Scanpix, who appointed Philip Davali and Ólafur Steinar Rye Gestsson for this shoot, to find out more about the project.
Kristian told us how he came up with the idea: “The proximity of people has widely been debated in Denmark in the past weeks. Danish politicians and authorities have frequently referred to images which they believed to show members of the public behaving in disagreement with the general guidelines.”
Telephoto-lens
Image credits: EPA / Philip Davali / Olafur Steinar RyE
Wide angle
Image credits: EPA / Philip Davali / Olafur Steinar RyE
As a national photo news agency that supplies important visual coverage, Kristian became aware that their “contribution could be misread”. With regards to media manipulation, the choice of angle and perspective is now equally as important as the image being shot. Now, basic photography techniques have taken on a darker, new meaning. But this wasn’t always the way. “The technical choices have never been a politically debatable issue in the history of photography,” said Kristian.
Telephoto-lens
Image credits: EPA / Philip Davali / Olafur Steinar RyE
“As producers of photography, we have a responsibility to draw attention to the fact that images in some cases do not show the proximity of objects as people seem to believe,” he continued.
“The right solution would be to clarify the circumstances in the captions of the images so that they won’t be misread.”
Wide angle
Image credits: EPA / Philip Davali / Olafur Steinar RyE
Telephoto-lens
Image credits: EPA / Philip Davali / Olafur Steinar RyE
Wide angle
Image credits: EPA / Philip Davali / Olafur Steinar RyE
Telephoto-lens
Image credits: EPA / Philip Davali / Olafur Steinar RyE
The wide-angle lens is similar to the way our eyes see. Ólafur Steinar Gestsson explained to a local Danish website: “it takes wider pictures, and as a photographer, you use it when you are close to what you need to photograph.” Similar types of cameras are built into our iPhones, helping us to capture images the way that we imagine them.
Meanwhile, the telephoto lens is the long lens used to photograph press meetings, football matches, and any situation where the subject is far away. “It gets closer to what you are photographing, and in a way, it pulls the subject together,” he said.
Wide angle
Image credits: EPA / Philip Davali / Olafur Steinar RyE
Ólafur told TV2 that viewers should be aware of the lens and equipment photographers used to take a particular picture. “If there was a description in the caption of how the image was taken, the editor would have the freedom to choose.” According to him, photographers “must always keep in mind how we do our job”. So, if reporting is to be fair and unbiased, perhaps a new journalism code of ethics should be drawn up for photographers too.
This is what people had to say about it
The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) has published a journalism code of ethics for their members, but really, any budding photojournalist should follow their advice. Here are a few notable takeaways:
“Be accurate in the representation of subjects. Resist being manipulated by staged photo opportunities. Be complete and provide context when photographing or recording subjects.”
If reporting is to be fair and unbiased, it’s up to the reporters to uphold their standards. And you can see how easy it is to manipulate people with just a lens and a certain angle.
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Perspective is everything
And why don't photographers show a third perspective, a normal lens? You know, reality?
Even a "normal" lens, (most photographers would consider that to be a 50mm) compresses things to an extent, especially from certain angles. Photographs just can't show full 3D reality in 2d
Isn’t the wide angle one reality? It’s literally showing the big picture.
Photography is always distorted by both the photographer (who composes and picks the image in the first place) and the equipment itself. Also, a camera takes a picture with one lens, one "eye". We see with two. That's why forced perspective, depth of field, etc. are even things we notice in photographs.
I was thinking the same thing.. News photographers do not carry telephoto or wide angle lenses like they put here..
Most will definitely carry a telephoto lens, and some will carry wide angle.
they carry zooms and it's usually a 24-70 or 16-35. rarely they will lug a telephoto unless the know the location and the subject is far away like a cordoned off press conference ala white house. if you don't use a wide angle you will be the furthest away and all those idiots with their phone cameras will block you.
"News photographers do not carry telephoto or wide angle lenses like they put here.." A 14mm, a 50mm, a 70-200, and a 300 f/2.8 are always in my bag. I also know plenty of "news photographers" that carry around their 400 2.8 or 200-400 f/4 with them. A lens capable of going to over 500mm. P.S. Every image taken here with a telephoto lens, a 70-200 is capable of taking. Especially if adding a 1.4x convertor. A 70-200 is in every "news photographer's bag. Every one of them.
There's nothing normal about reality these days.
Because people need "Objects in Mirror are Closer Than They Appear" printed right on the side-view mirror, and people have no taste for reality that doesn't fit their typically narrow-minded sensibilities.
What would a third "reality" perspective be? They've already shown a wide angle and a telephoto shot
A photograph never depicts total reality.
This comment has been deleted.
Right? Wide does the opposite of telephoto, so where's the 35mm shots from the exact same angles? This article is still distorting just in the opposite direction.
No it's not. A telephoto is literally just the middle part of a 35mm lens. I'm serious. Take your widest lens and take a shot, then use your longest focal length and shoot the same shot from the same place. Load them to your computer and zoom in on the 35mm shot until it is the same frame as the telephoto and they'll look exactly, and I mean exactly the same.
Full name is right and imitating is partially right because a wideangle shot from a similar angle of the telephoto would push the people further back.
To all of you, who complain how "no one ever reports about *insert topic of concern*". Well, yet you know about that, how? If you're not an insider, it means that SOMEONE actually is reporting about these things....
Every time someone reports on something of which i'm an insider i can't help but notice how everything is so distorted that it has little to do with reality. I've accepted the fact that being informed is basically impossible.
Can I upvote you 100 times? At least you figured it out . Too many people realize that the things they know about are nonsense, but everything else they take as gospel if it attacks whatever they don't like.
If something is said in a live TV interview, than it is reality and is not distorted, period!!
Who made that complaint?
This comment has been deleted.
Full Name you said "....but everything else they take as gospel if it attacks whatever they don't like." That's what your idol does, isn't it? All we need is OBJECTIVITY.
This comment has been deleted.
Perspective is everything
And why don't photographers show a third perspective, a normal lens? You know, reality?
Even a "normal" lens, (most photographers would consider that to be a 50mm) compresses things to an extent, especially from certain angles. Photographs just can't show full 3D reality in 2d
Isn’t the wide angle one reality? It’s literally showing the big picture.
Photography is always distorted by both the photographer (who composes and picks the image in the first place) and the equipment itself. Also, a camera takes a picture with one lens, one "eye". We see with two. That's why forced perspective, depth of field, etc. are even things we notice in photographs.
I was thinking the same thing.. News photographers do not carry telephoto or wide angle lenses like they put here..
Most will definitely carry a telephoto lens, and some will carry wide angle.
they carry zooms and it's usually a 24-70 or 16-35. rarely they will lug a telephoto unless the know the location and the subject is far away like a cordoned off press conference ala white house. if you don't use a wide angle you will be the furthest away and all those idiots with their phone cameras will block you.
"News photographers do not carry telephoto or wide angle lenses like they put here.." A 14mm, a 50mm, a 70-200, and a 300 f/2.8 are always in my bag. I also know plenty of "news photographers" that carry around their 400 2.8 or 200-400 f/4 with them. A lens capable of going to over 500mm. P.S. Every image taken here with a telephoto lens, a 70-200 is capable of taking. Especially if adding a 1.4x convertor. A 70-200 is in every "news photographer's bag. Every one of them.
There's nothing normal about reality these days.
Because people need "Objects in Mirror are Closer Than They Appear" printed right on the side-view mirror, and people have no taste for reality that doesn't fit their typically narrow-minded sensibilities.
What would a third "reality" perspective be? They've already shown a wide angle and a telephoto shot
A photograph never depicts total reality.
This comment has been deleted.
Right? Wide does the opposite of telephoto, so where's the 35mm shots from the exact same angles? This article is still distorting just in the opposite direction.
No it's not. A telephoto is literally just the middle part of a 35mm lens. I'm serious. Take your widest lens and take a shot, then use your longest focal length and shoot the same shot from the same place. Load them to your computer and zoom in on the 35mm shot until it is the same frame as the telephoto and they'll look exactly, and I mean exactly the same.
Full name is right and imitating is partially right because a wideangle shot from a similar angle of the telephoto would push the people further back.
To all of you, who complain how "no one ever reports about *insert topic of concern*". Well, yet you know about that, how? If you're not an insider, it means that SOMEONE actually is reporting about these things....
Every time someone reports on something of which i'm an insider i can't help but notice how everything is so distorted that it has little to do with reality. I've accepted the fact that being informed is basically impossible.
Can I upvote you 100 times? At least you figured it out . Too many people realize that the things they know about are nonsense, but everything else they take as gospel if it attacks whatever they don't like.
If something is said in a live TV interview, than it is reality and is not distorted, period!!
Who made that complaint?
This comment has been deleted.
Full Name you said "....but everything else they take as gospel if it attacks whatever they don't like." That's what your idol does, isn't it? All we need is OBJECTIVITY.
This comment has been deleted.