Thursday 23 January 2014

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer fired after admitting that he doctored ...


  • Used technique called ‘cloning’ to remove a camera from picture

  • Associated Press ran the photograph without knowing it was retouched

  • AP has cut all ties with photographer who doctored photo

  • Photographer admits fault, saying he has to ‘assume the consequences’

  • The photographer has previously won a Pulitzer prize for war coverage


By

Luke Garratt



PUBLISHED:


14:22, 23 January 2014


|
UPDATED:


16:15, 23 January 2014



A Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer has been fired by the Associated Press news agency after admitting he had doctored one of his photos from the Syrian civil war.


The photographer, Narciso Contreras had manipulated a photo of a Syrian rebel by using a common Photoshop technique called ‘cloning’ in order to remove a fellow reporter’s camera out of the picture, before sending it to an AP photo desk.


The technique involves copying another piece of the photo and moving it to another area, giving photographers the ability to erase portions of pictures. In this case it was a colleague’s camera.


Spot the difference: In the original image (top photo), a fellow journalist


Spot the difference: In the original image (top photo), a fellow journalist’s video camera is visible on the ground in the left corner of the frame. Freelance photographer Narciso Contreras altered the image (lower photo) by cloning another part of the background, before sending it to an AP photo desk



AP does allow its photographers to use software to lighten or darken photographs, what they call ‘minor adjustments’, but according to its ethics policy, only these small types of changes are acceptable.


Contreras, who shared a Pulitzer Prize for his images of the war, said that the photo was the only one he has manipulated.


He said: ‘I took the wrong decision when I removed the camera. I feel ashamed about that.


‘You can go through my archives and you can find that this is a single case that happened probably at one very stressed moment, at one very difficult situation.


‘But it happened to me, so I have to assume the consequences.’


The Associated Press has since cut ties with the award-winning photographer, whose work has been featured in publications across the world, such as The New York Times, Der Spiegel, TIME, and The Washington Post.


Narciso Contreras has been working for AP to cover the conflict since before 2012 and has had many photographs reach critical acclaim, such as this picture of a rebel sniper aiming at a Syrian army position in the Jedida district of Aleppo


Narciso Contreras has been working for AP to cover the conflict since before 2012 and has had many photographs reach critical acclaim, such as this picture of a rebel sniper aiming at a Syrian army position in the Jedida district of Aleppo



Contreras won awards for his photographs which provided an insight into both soldiers in the conflict, and the war


Residents walk past damaged buildings due to heavy fighting between Free Syrian Army fighters and government forces in Aleppo, Syria, in a picture taken in October 2012


Contreras won awards for his photographs which provided an insight into both the war’s impact on civilians (left) and soldiers in the conflict. Residents walk past damaged buildings (right) due to heavy fighting between Free Syrian Army fighters and government forces in Aleppo, Syria, in a picture taken in October 2012


Narciso Contreras, the Mexican photojournalist during his time working for Zuma Press in 2011. He is lying down resting on a gurney inside a hospital after he was reportedly beaten by Indian police in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian administered Kashmir, India


Narciso Contreras, the Mexican photojournalist during his time working for Zuma Press in 2011. He is lying down resting on a gurney inside a hospital after he was reportedly beaten by Indian police in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian administered Kashmir, India



Since the revelation, AP has examined 494 photos taken by Contreras, but did not find any other alterations.


This is not the first time that AP has had to pull photographs because of digital manipulation.


In 2011, they pulled an entire series because a photographer used editing software to remove his shadow from an image.


Santiago Lyon, AP’s Vice President and Director of Photography, said: ‘AP’s reputation is paramount and we react decisively and vigorously when it is tarnished by actions in violation of our ethics code.


Speaking about Contreras, Lyon said: ‘Deliberately removing elements from our photographs is completely unacceptable and we have severed all relations with the freelance photographer in question.


‘He will not work for the AP again in any capacity.’


Another high profile case of camera trickery involving the Syrian war happened earlier this month with an arranged photograph which had both nothing to do with the Syrian civil war, or any grounding in truth.


A photo taken by Abdul Aziz al Otaibi in Saudi Arabia went viral on the internet, floating around with the caption ‘Syrian orphan sleeping between his parents’.


Photographer Al-Otaibi has since said he was shocked by how the picture had been ‘twisted’, because he made it very clear it was not real when he posted it on Facebook.


The photo was not doctored, but was misconstrued when it went viral on the internet


The photo revealed as a staged statement rather than a piece of photojournalism


(Left) The photo was not doctored, but was misconstrued when it went viral on the internet, with people claiming it was a Syrian child ‘sleeping between his parents’. (Right) A later photo revealed the first as a staged statement rather than a piece of photojournalism, taken in Saudi Arabia









Comments (4)


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The comments below have been moderated in advance.





Bill,


Kent,


13 hours ago


You mean some of the pix from the civil war might be phoney…how truly shocking, someone should be told.






brian,


malaga,


13 hours ago


You don’t need to be a Photoshop expert to see that it was cloned. The miniature skull at 11 o’clock in the circle is a dead giveaway.





Jinx,


Ipswich,


13 hours ago


So?





Wordsworthbloke,


London, United Kingdom,


13 hours ago


This is a shame, it really doesn’t change anything about the photo. There are hundreds of examples of images in the AP that have been far more dramatically altered in post. This guy is very talented and it’s terrible that he has been released for this.



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Article source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409491,00.asp


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