Posted on August 17, 2008 - by Venik

Reuters Published Fake Propaganda Photos, Part II

Just a quick follow-up to the story below about Reuters publishing fake photos of civilian victims in Gori. Russian bloggers have identified the photographer responsible for most of these images. He turned out to be Gleb Garanich (Глеб Гаранич) – a Ukrainian photojournalist working for Reuters. The photos, as it turns out, might have been staged.

As I expected, no Photoshop was used, but there is possibility that Garanich used “models” found among the helpful locals to stage his “action” shots. Reuters is still standing by their photographer and maintains that photos are authentic. After being contacted by Russia’s Interfax news agency, Reuters released a sequence of photographs taken by Garanich.

It is not clear why Reuters editors thought that this sequence of photos would confirm the authenticity of Garanich’s work. If the event was staged – either by Garanich or for his benefit – the sequence of shots released by Reuters confirms nothing. If anything, these photos raise more questions.

Upon close examination, all photos in the sequence released by Reuters show the “victim” on his back. And yet, there is at least one photo made by Garanich that shows the “victim” face down:

This photo was not part of the sequence released by Reuters. We can also see the “grieving relative” from the original sequence of shots, dressed in black calmly surveying the scene. Things just don’t add up.

Another shot (below) shows the same “grieving relative” apparently in great distress, but now he is wearing a t-shirt and a black sleeveless shirt, similar to the one from the photo above. Did he go home to get dressed and then came back to pose for other photographers?

The photo above does not have the “Reuters” logo and does not appear in the sequence released by Reuters, so it might have been taken by someone other that Gleb Garanich. This would suggest that Garanich may not have been deliberately misrepresenting the events, but that the entire scene might have been staged for the benefit of visiting photojournalists, including Garanich.

And, of course, nothing explains the BBC video footage that shows the same “victim” being carried “to safety” by Georgian troops. In this BBC video, also shown on Russian TV, you can clearly see that the “victim” is wearing the same sneakers, pants, and shirt and has the same haircut as the subject in Garanich’s photos.

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