UCR ARTS: California Museum of Photography
Curated by Douglas McCulloh
Lies are ever-present in human affairs, a tidal flow that rises and falls. Recently, lies have been at flood stage and photographs are central to the surge.
Statements, strings of words, are readily seen as assertions, claims. Photographs, on the other hand, are presumed to be a form of evidence. In Susan Sontag’s phrase, we assume photographs are “directly stenciled off the real.” Consequently, photographs, even dubious ones, carry credence in a way that words do not. Moreover, writes theorist Lev Manovich, “the reason we think that computer graphics technology has succeeded in faking reality is that we, over the course of the last hundred and fifty years, have come to accept the image of photography and film as reality.” For these main reasons and scores of lesser ones, photographs are ideal vehicles for lies. (Read More)
The Claim
President Joe Biden is “working for China.” He has been assigned a “Chinese handler.” The social media claims begin moments after Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021. Proof: photographs showing an Asian man standing behind Biden on the inaugural dais—the President’s “Chinese bodyguard.”
The Lie
David Cho is Korean-American, a U.S. Secret Service agent, and head of Presidential Protective Division (PPD) for U.S. President Joe Biden. (Cho was second-in-command for the previous occupant of the White House.) Per Secret Service practice, the PPD head stays with the President at all times. He travels in the front passenger seat of the presidential limousine and rides with the President on Marine One and Air Force One during all domestic and foreign trips.
The racist/white nationalist overtones of the “Chinese handler” claim carry a kicker. In the inauguration photos, Cho wears a pin on the left lapel of his dark blue suit, but not a flag. “Not American,” state the posts. The lapel pin is square and blue. It turns out to be the new official high-tech pin of the Secret Service, special issue, incorporating secret “security enhancement technology features.”
