Excerpt from an article on "Photojournalism An Ethical Approach" http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/chapter6.html <<<< In an article titled, "The Case of the Rearranged Corpse," Frederic Ray (1961), art director for Civil War Times magazine, detailed a more famous manipulation. A photographer under Brady's employ, Alexander Gardner, is credited with a series of pictures he made of 18-year-old Pvt. Andrew Hoge of the 4th Virginia Infantry in Gettysburg. Hoge was stationed in a sniper's nest behind a barricade of rocks. The photograph captioned, "Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter," in Gardner's book, Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War, shows the dead sniper lying on his back, his face turned toward the camera, and his rifle propped up against one of the rocks. The image would have remained a striking photographic document if it were not for another picture by Gardner that shows the same soldier in a different location. This photograph is a closer view of the young man still lying on his back, but his face is turned away from the camera and his rifle lies on the ground by his side. Apparently, the frustration with using slow films and lenses that made it impossible to photograph action during the heat of a battle, caused Gardner to create his own dramatic pictures. Ray wrote that Gardner "was guilty of at least a misdemeanor as a photographic historian" and concluded that his ethical transgressions were "nothing serious" (p. 19). But when a photographer is shown to fake a picture, all of his work is put into question. Again, the issue is credibility. >>>> The article is 3-years old. Some of the comments about digital (predictions?) make interesting reading ... Bob
