The touching hug photo from Ferguson protests is a blatant lie
12/2/2014
The camera is a superb liar. It only shows one moment, and has no obligation to explain the bigger picture behind it. The selective use of photographs can therefore replace truth with whatever visual detail we choose to fix on. Horror or schmaltz, the effect is the same, to simplify reality and turn a story into a deceptively straightforward image.
In the 1930s and 1940s the dishonest manipulation of photographs was a speciality of state propagandists. Backroom technicians in totalitarian darkrooms removed unwanted faces from pictures and turned emotive images into posters. Today, we don’t need propaganda machines to deceive us because we can make hypocritical and self-manipulating choices ourselves just by “liking” the pictures that show us what we want to see and ignoring those that are more awkward.
The protests in America against a grand jury’s decision not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson for shooting dead unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, have thrown up a sickly sweet instance of this modern dishonesty.
Of all the disturbing images of streets on fire and crowds unappeased that have seethed since the grand jury decision in Ferguson set off protests across America, one of the most popular online turns out to be a touching moment of interracial togetherness. You heard me. Like a supermarket Christmas ad, this photograph taken at a Ferguson protest in Portland, Oregon, feasts on a moment of truce and peace amid the anger.
in full: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/02/hug-photographs-ferguson-protests-lie
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That it was a fleeting moment doesn't detract from the greater picture, the utter brutality that is meted out to citizens every day in America.
But shit, let us have this one moment to show that within the mess of protests and wars and riots there are human moments of love and understanding.
Shame on the author for trying to diminish the most important piece of our humanity.
You mean we don't have world peace and racial equality?
DAMN, and I probably "liked" the photo on Facebook, too. I'm such a sucker. 
No, it's another image to focus on to remind us that there are many aspects of reality. The wanker author is supposed to be an arts writer, but he seems utterly useless in understanding the power of images.
More evidence of that:
The Staten Island grand jury investigating the death of New York’s Eric Garner — an asthmatic man who died after being held in a police chokehold — has declined to issue any indictment of Daniel Pantaleo, the officer involved.
The New York Post reported Wednesday afternoon that the officers involved with the incident have been cleared of charges.
Garner, 47, was accosted by police on July 17 and accused of illegally selling cigarettes. In video of the incident, officers were observed placing Garner in a chokehold to subdue him.
While in the chokehold, Garner, who had asthma, repeatedly told officers he was unable to breathe. After more than 7 minutes with no air, Garner had a heart attack. He died in the ambulance on the way to medical help.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/no-indictment-in-nyc-polce-choke-hold-death-of-eric-garner/
Response to Jefferson23 (Original post)
