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)
One small change can be the basis of a huge claim. One step takes us through the looking glass.
The Claim
President Biden has been replaced by a body double. The proof? Photographs showing the right-handed Biden at his oval office desk signing documents with his left hand. “Oops, Biden’s body double is left-handed. Casting director slipped up!”
The Lie
The photo of the “left-handed Biden” has been flipped. Other than this simple mirroring, the image is exactly the same as the original: a photo taken at 5:06 p.m., Wednesday January 20, 2021 by Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci (pronounced Vucci).
