It’s one of the most infamous images of the Great Depression: the sun-bleached skull of a steer on the parched, drought-stricken plains of South Dakota. When the photo, taken by Farm Security Administration photographer Arthur Rothstein, ran in The Washington Post, it served as a graphic depiction of the scourge of overgrazed land and the plight of the nation’s homesteaders.
It was later revealed that the skull had been positioned by Rothstein, and the image selected and captioned by the Post’s editors, presumably to make a more dramatic point. The photo was subsequently branded a “fake” and labeled New Deal propaganda.
There are countless examples of such iconic images, from the Crimean War through Abu Ghraib, that have served to inflame, astonish and galvanize us with stark reality. But how real are they? Even before the advent of Photoshop, we’ve had reason to wonder - is this a decisive moment, captured by a skilled and objective photojournalist? Or an image staged or selected to tell a specific story, convey a chosen point of view? What does it tell us about the photographer and his or her motivations?
In his new book, award-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris explores the mysteries behind well-known photographs, seeking out the true relationships between the pictures and the real world they supposedly record.
WEIGH IN:
So, is seeing believing? When it comes to photography, can we trust our eyes? What do the images in our daily newspaper or on the internet tell us about our world? What do our reactions tell us about ourselves? What famous photographs have affected you deeply – and why?
Guest:
Errol Morris, author of "Believing is Seeing (Observations on the Mysteries of Photography)." Morris is the Academy Award-winning director of "The Fog of War" and the recipient of a Macarthur “Genius” Award.