Alive And Well – Photographs As Evidence

Yes, there are modern day hermits. Here are photographs to prove it. The photographer apparently spent time with each hermit along the way, sampling the life. All not for me though.

And here is the interesting thing about the photographs themselves that emerged after the article was published. The New York Times editor was not amused:

Updated Aug. 1, 7:57 p.m. | Editors’ Note: After this post was published, the editors learned that at least two of the images, Slides 3 and 10, were composites and had been digitally altered by the photographer to include elements from other photographs taken that same day. Additionally, elements were altered in Slides 6 and 17.

If the editors had known how those images were produced, they would not have been published.

It would seem that public sentiment around photographs as evidence are alive and well.

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2 thoughts on “Alive And Well – Photographs As Evidence”

  1. I love these photographs, digitally altered or no. I’m always fascinated by the solitary life. So far, my weeks alone in the tent are as far as I’ve got. But I’m working on it!

  2. In one sense all images are processed. After a cataract operation I enjoy different views depending on which eye I use – most pronounced in the blue end of the spectrum (and a vast improvement I should add). Likewise the digital camera CCD (charge coupled detector) is not neutral – the response varies with the colour, and microcode pre-processes the signal to bring it close to what the human brain expects. Pigeons would have different expectations.
    So the NYT affront was perhaps more in the failure to declare the manipulation rather than in the extra post-processing per se.

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