Tricks with photography
Let me preface this by saying that I’m not a big fan of Mahmood Ahmadinejad, however I have noticed a trend in the western media that I would like to talk about.
Firstly, let us consider the standard file photographs of some major world leaders (plus K-Rudd, just to keep up my quota of local content).
Now, let me bore you with a little bit of data analysis.
| World leader | Relative head size |
|---|---|
| Mahmood Ahmadinejad | 1.0 |
| Kim Jong-Il | 1.8 |
| Fidel Castro | 5.3 |
| Gordon Brown | 7.2 |
| Kevin Rudd | 33.0 |
| George Bush | 41.1 |
You don’t have to be Alfred Einstein to notice the trend here; the more “evil” a world leader, the smaller he appears in his file photo. It’s not too overt for Kim and Fidel, but the mugshot of Ahmadinejad is truly ridiculous. All the media is missing is a caption: “Small man syndrome”.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The true beauty of this is that noone will ever pick the media up on selecting photos which reflect the way they wish their subject to be portrayed in the subconscious minds of their readers. Notice how our beloved western leaders are all deep in thought of making an eloquent point, while the “crazy dictators” all look like they are either on a disjointed rant, or addressing some kind of fascist rally.
I’m going to have to ditch my beloved ABC and start reading Al Jazeera.
September 23, 2008 5:16 pm 7 Comments
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By Richard
, September 24, 2008 @ 11:30 am
Only now you realise how overtly biased the ABC is. where have you been living, under a rock?
By Wombat
, September 24, 2008 @ 4:30 pm
Mmmm, I certainly prefer the highly balanced views of Channels 7, 9 and 10.
By stu
, September 24, 2008 @ 10:59 pm
From now on, I’m getting all my news from my own website. This could lead to some confusion.
By foster
, September 25, 2008 @ 12:35 am
george bush looks like a Gremlin?? SOmeone must’ve feb him after midnight
Also, bring back the old format!!! It might have worked with 100% effectiveness 13% of the time, but that pic of you with the VB was joel’s finest hour. Apart from his recent payrise.
By Duncan
, September 25, 2008 @ 4:15 pm
I agree with Foster. I like to imagine you penning a rant, taking a gulp of VB, hitting submit and then rubbing your belly and saying “Classic”. Cane fields just don’t cut it.
By foster
, September 25, 2008 @ 9:03 pm
thought you might like this stu:
http://www.reuters.com/article/blogBurst/science?type=scienceNews&w1=B7ovpm21IaDoL40ZFnNfGe&w2=B80EKKDZW7XjzuNGrifTUKY&src=blogBurst_scienceNews&bbPostId=Cz5Ev0JdU2gZtB5hCCYBscaP5BAOafEkHgTSLBCr3peZTx9gl&bbParentWidgetId=B80EKKDZW7XjzuNGrifTUKY
can just imagine you sitting back, drinking a sip (from a dirty glass no less), licking your lips, rubbing your belly, and drawling ‘mmm, not as good as Bees Neez’
By Wombat
, September 25, 2008 @ 11:45 pm
abstain.