Creepy (photoshopped?) half-black/half-white Obama pic from TIME mag:

[elehhhhna]

With forty-six years of pain, thought and effort behind it, today's Barack Obama seems fairly secure and unconflicted in his own identity as an African-American. ...Too bad nobody informed the MSM.

The image above -- taken while Obama was waiting to be introduced at a campaign event in South Carolina -- was the "Barack entry" in TIME's just released Images of the Year. Employing the shadow, the implication is that the meditative Obama is somehow personally split between dark and light.

seems the msmis at it again http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/

[fenriswolf]

1. deffinatly photoshopped

[Dawggie]

2. Holy shit. that has been photoshopped. Here's the link to the CNN/Time

website showing tis. http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1695460_1505886,00.html

[stevedeshazer]

3. Easy to see what they're going for here

[elehhhhna]

4. yep.

[ThatPoetGuy]

5. Anything can be Photoshopped,

given enough skill and time on the Photoshopper's side.

That said, if that pic was Photoshopped, it took A LOT of skill and A LOT of time.

I'm not sure I could do it, and I'm good with Photoshop.

There are none of the characteristic distortions. That would mean, tools were used to alter the images, causing distortion; then tools were used to minimize the distortions; then tools were used to minimize the distortions caused by that; etc., and so on, etc. Lots of time would go into that.

Then look at the rectangular patch of light on the wall to the right of his head. It looks like light was streaming in through a window. That might explain the brighter side of his face. Again, that COULD have been photoshopped, but it's pretty convincing.

My guess is actually that this was just an odd moment of light caught on camera. Some dumbass photography editor saw it and thought it was a metaphor.

[Dawggie]

11. That would take me about 5 minutes to photoshop.

Duplicate the layer, lighten it then erase the corresponding lightened area on the original layer.
Merge layers and done.

[blogslut]

6. It's sunlight from a window hitting his face

That's my guess

[Kucinich4America]

12. Evenly divided right down the middle of his face?

Nah, that ain't sunlight.

Would probably take a whole 30 seconds to Photoshop it though. Just select half the picture (or at least half the face) and tweak the lighting. I suck at Photoshop, and I could do this easily.

[fenriswolf]

13. they did it to his shirt and tie too

clearly photoshopped

[blogslut]

14. It's not even.

It veers off to the right of his chin. Even the original blog the OP is hotlinking the pic from calls it a shadow effect.

link: http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/2007/12/corporate-media.html

The image above -- taken while Obama was waiting to be introduced at a campaign event in South Carolina -- was the "Barack entry" in TIME's just released Images of the Year. Employing the shadow, the implication is that the meditative Obama is somehow personally split between dark and light.

[fenriswolf]

15. alright you point out the spot light pointed at him

he is in a hallway with overhead lighting, their is no lighting that would be their naturally to produce that image. if it is not photoshopped then it certainly is very staged. Their is no way this could be natural. I would rather atribute it to a poor photoshop. the line on his tie and shirt is not straight but their is a definate line. their is no way you can get those contrasting shades without some disimination between the two extremes.

[blogslut]

18. fine

You believe what you want.

In the meantime, read the blog post that the OP is hotlinking the pic from. It goes into more detail about the photos these publications choose to run. It's not that the pic was chopped, it's that TIME CHOSE to run it in the first place.

[fenriswolf]

20. oh i dont care what times does

i just didnt want people thinking that something like that can happen naturally. and as someone who does photography as a hobby and makes a living from photoshop i know this is photoshopped. the lighting and effects are completly unatural. if you look you see two types of "shadows" on his 1 type is created naturally from the ambient lighting, the other is a hard shadow that you can seperate with a single line. def not naturally, def not staged because the secondary "shadow" does not follow the natural curve of his tie or his face. this photo is poorly photoshopped. I suspect it was never intended to look natural and instead was intended to cause a discussion on wheather race is a role in his candidacy.

[blogslut]

23. sigh

Good for you. You know photoshop because of your learnings and having seen many photoshops. Whatever.

The blog post is not from TIME - it is from Bag News Notes.

[fenriswolf]

24. jeez sorry thought this thread was a discussion on

if the photo was photoshopped or not. no need to belittle me. just wanted to inform ya.

[blogslut]

25. Sorry

My patience is threadbare these days. I shall continue to disagree with you on the shop/not shop. But I am sorry if I made you feel bad.

[Sugar Smack]

21. No. First time I've disagreed with ya.

It's a Photoshop. :) Believe me, it's a Photoshop.

[Sugar Smack]

27. Here's a really bad one I did of your buddy:

:P

[blogslut]

28. He ain't my buddy

That's why he's wearing teh chicken suit. But he wasn't photoshopped. He was GIMPED. ;)

[Sugar Smack]

29. *LOL*

:rofl: I love you. :loveya:

[blogslut]

31. Luv U back

here's a hug: :hug:

[whistle]

7. I have not looked through a Time magazine issue in years

...but if someone on the Time staff really did that and the content review staff approved it, it would not at all surprise me.

[EFerrari]

8. Obama's run is / will make us face up to a lot of ugliness in this culture.

And, he's just the man to do it. We'll be in his debt, no matter the outcome.

[demnan]

9. Crazy

because as far as bigots are concerned, it doesn't matter how dark his complexion is, if he has a drop, he's black.

I'd pass D.C. Mayor, Adrian Finty on the street and I wouldn't probably think about whether he was black or white -

Light black people are still discriminated against by bigots. It's the same as Nazis looking for that Jewish facial feature. etc.

I worry about this. If he's the best man and every one in the Democratic Party chooses him, I'll support him, but I fear the racist backlash that will happen.

[EFerrari]

16. Don't fear it. It's an opportunity to move this show forward.

:)

[JustAnotherGen]

26. demnan

I'm firmly in Edwards camp, but my second choice is Obama. In my dream world? They go neck and neck and we have an Edwards/Obama ticket in November.

I worry too . . . I'm a 'fair' black person that happens to share Obama's parentage. When I look at him - I'm looking at my brother. I'm listening to him speak. I can relate to him. See - I look at him as 'bi-racial like me'. :-) My own prejudice at play? I don't know. But to me? He proves that all those bigots that say, "Oh, but what about the children" in regards to bi-racial couples can take it and shove it up their ass sideways. From my personal experience - I've heard from BOTH blacks and whites.

I think whether he's our President or our Vice President in January 2009 - he's going to rip a band-aid or two off of some old wounds . . . but I'm not afraid. I think it would be a good thing - to have an American President or Veep, who happens to have tan/brown skin and that can debunk "The Dream Deferred" that Hughes wrote about. :-)

[demnan]

33. I hope so!

I actually helped elect the first black governor in the country - Doug Wilder in Virginia, 1980s. He was a good governor for us. And I also worked on and helped the first woman elected to Congress in Virgnina, Leslie Bryne.

I'm very happy to help break down these walls of prejudice.

[aikoaiko]

10. Thats a great image if its not chopped.

It will push a lot of peoples buttons or act as a inkblot for a various hangups.

[Rex]

17. TIME sucks donkey balls! Good for emergency toilet paper

use only! I hope Obama becomes the new POTUS or VPOTUS! I WANT the RW racist assholes to gnash their teeth and cry like 5 year olds when he wins!

Fuck them and anyone who supports racism or republicans.

[Deja Q]

19. A definite photoshopped image... even MSPAINT could do a reasonable job...

Like Bill Cosby, no doubt Barack Obama will be lambasted for coming across as an "oreo" or anything else.

Which is sad. Both men are very respectable. Though I'd love to hear what they have to say about offshoring. I'd listen with genuine interest.

[book_worm]

22. here they go again. They did something years ago with OJ Simpson's picture too

I think making him "blacker".

[karlrschneider]

30. Some people's imaginations have run amok

:eyes:

[MissDeeds]

32. Might be photo-shopped

Probably is. But, whether it is or not, the troubling question remains why "Time" would choose to use this photo when there are thousands of others they could have used.

[elana i am]

34. i'm a graphic artist

it's not photoshopped. it's the sun coming in from the other end of the hall. you can see the reflection in the black wall and the tile foor behind obama. you can also see the cast shadow of the person in front of and to the right of obama on his left side and behind him on the wall plaque.

eta: the black thing in the back looks to be a curtain with light from the visible end of the hall shining through. but the reflections are based on light coming from the near end of the hall.