Say it ain't so Robert........

[Bongo]

One of the most famous war photographs of all time.

"The Falling Soldier - full title - "Loyalist Militiaman at the moment of death, Cerro Muriano, September 5, 1936" -

photographed by one of the most famous war photographers of all time - Robert Capa at age 25.
Only -- it turns out the photo was not taken at Cerro Muriano. And it turns out the man in the photograph was not shot but was posing for Capa's camera. Decades later long lost film and contact sheets of Capa's were found in Mexico that showed various angles and versions of the "falling soldier". One of the most famous documentary photographs of all time - is a fake.

 

[Artyczar]

Wow, crazy.

 

[laf.art]

The forerunner of the world of fake news.it's quite shocking in its way

 

[Bongo]

makes you wonder how much "documentary" footage is faked. I know planting the flag at Imo Jima was re-staged and shot multiple times, as was Mcarther's return to the Philippines. That wasn't common knowledge at the time, but it wasn't kept secret either.

News photographers have a very high code of ethics. In the Iraq war there was a photo taken of a bombed out building, piles of rubble, and on top of it was a child's doll. It was a too-perfect shot and the photographer was accused of staging it - which would have been the end of him as a news photographer. The doll was in the rubble but he was accused of moving it to make it more prominent in the shot.

Once photoshop became a common part of the workflow, news-photographers were getting fired left and right for sweetening photos. Now there are no newsrooms left to be fired from.