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The photo “debunking” protest fires in Paris is actually fake

by 9 Comments

A few days ago, a photo “debunking” protest fires in Paris appeared on Twitter and it quickly went viral. It shows two images side-by-side “proving” that the fire was actually harmless, but only shot from a low angle so it appears huge. However, when this “fact checker” was fact checked, it turned out that it was actually fake: reportedly , the two photos weren’t only taken on different days, but also in different parts of the city.

The photos placed side-by-side were tweeter by various users, with comments like “perspective matters.” Apparently, they were suggesting that the photographers shot a small fire from such a perspective that it seems much bigger than it is, and the “debunker” diptych got retweeted tens of thousands of times.

However, AFP then posted a thread to prove that the “debunker” image is the one that needs to be debunked. They report that the first image was taken on 1 December 2018 by Katerine Pierre, a photographer for Hans Lucas agency. The second one was taken on 8 December by a staff photographer at French magazine Le Point, who posted it on Twitter. It’s not only the dates, but the places differ, too. The second image was taken “exactly on the other side of the Arc de Triomphe, on Foch Avenue,” AFP writes.

Gizmodo points out that it’s not clear who was the first to juxtapose these two images, and what the intention was. But they sure spread like forest fire (no pun intended, really). But AFP had debunked the “debunker” and gave a thorough rundown on both images. While the Yellow Vest protests in Paris are real news, we should still take both the photos and the “debunkers” with a grain of salt.

[via Gizmodo, AFPFactCheck]

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  • Go to travel alerts for France. Via our own government. Then go to travel alerts for those in the U.K……… From terrorist and extremist groups to protest groups. THEN tell me about fake news.

  • Marko

    Fake news? Really? How much in denial the Left can get? Did you see the burnt cars all over the streets (dozens)? Did you see the dozens of shuttered and looted stores? Do not make small of it as if business is as usual, it was a riot that caused damages in the tens of millions.

    A responsible web site like DIY should NEVER let an article like that be published.

    • George Salt

      I think you missed the point of the article.

      • Marko

        Those seemingly “objective” articles (about photography of course, there is no political context here at all…lol) are portrayed as if “keep walking, nothing to see here”. The reality id vastly different.

        No mention or photos of what really happened (it is a photo forum after all), that would put it in balance.

        • George Salt

          Did you miss the double-negative? The point of this article is that the Fake News post was Fake News.

          • Marko

            Admiringly, I just read the whole article and you are absolutely right. I responded to the article when seeing the photo and recognized it from previous articles saying the many of the riot photos were fake. a knee-jerk reaction by me.

            Thanks for pointing it out. Cheers

  • Read the article before posting. The two images are shot on different days and talks about how fake news spreads. Be informed but don’t buy in to sensationalized media or believe all media is sensationalized.

  • photos may be fake but the videos are pretty terrible and outrageous.

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