Fun With Photoshop

Posted by Mika on Oct 20, 2010 in Egyptian Politics, Middle East Politics | 0 comments

On July 16, 1966, a time when infighting within the Communist Party of China was at it’s height, after the disaster of the Great Leap Forward, the People’s Daily released a photo of Chairman Mao swimming the Yangtze River. The photo was taken to prove that Mao was still a youthful and vigorous leader, capable of feats of strength even at age 72. Never the type to quit while they’re ahead, along with the photograph the People’s Daily reported that the rotund Chairman swam nearly 15 km in 65 minutes, which would have been a world record pace at the time. Now, Mao was known to be quite the swimmer in his youth, no one would argue with that, but that photo next to that inflated distance was just too much for some people to take in. The Western media called bullshit;The photo had to be doctored, but no one could find any proof. To this day, people still disagree about whether or not the image of Mao’s face, bopping above the waves with four anonymous heads, is a genuine or a doctored image. Even if the photo was fake, it didn’t matter. Real or not, the photo worked.The Chinese people loved it, and that image was the beginning of a political coup for Mao. After the summer of 1966, he took back the reigns of power in China and had all the support he needed to open that other dark chapter of his leadership; the Cultural Revolution.

But Mao was living in the good old days. Back then, it was harder to get caught messing up your photographs… or maybe it wasn’t a “back then” issue so much as a “there is no free press in China” issue. Either way, it was harder for people to get their hands on the original images. These days, if you screw around with photoshop, you’re going to get caught because the photo manipulation story is always worth more then the original story. What’s more interesting to you, “Nicholas Sarkozy goes Kayaking” or “Nicholas Sarkozy Photo-shopped out his Love Handles Because he’s a Weenie”?
I think this is pretty simple stuff, personally, but apparently some people are taking a while to catch on to this new reality.

Take this photo of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, bravely leading the leaders of the world into a meeting to discuss peace in the Middle East. In reality, this guy was way in the back… way in the back. See the original photo.

I mean, he was scuffing along behind King Abdullah of Jordan of all people, he was so far in the back. An Egyptian newspaper, however, decided it would be good for his image if he was in front because then he would be seen as “relevant” as opposed to “superfluous”, which would means the whole picture could be seen in brand new light. He was “marching’ as opposed to “scuffing”, he was “smiling optimistically” as opposed to “chewing on his lips because he’s so damn bored”, he was “peering into the future” as opposed to “observing Benjamin Netanyahu’s bum through the corner of his eye” and his tie was “right-leaning” as opposed to “left-leaning”. It’s all in the details really. But now that everyone knows the photo is fake, President Mubarak just looks like a douche, and really, what’s the point? It’s not like they have any democracy in Egypt anyway. back of the line, front of the line, he’s going to win the election. After I spent last weekend railing against Lula’s ridiculous 80% approval ratings I learn now that, in a country which is only 70% literate, 98% of people actively vote for Hosni Mubarak. Seriously, guy, you have managed to convince people that you have 98% approval ratings and you are still concerned with being in the front of the line? Even Mao would quit if he was that far ahead.

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