29

TUESDAY

Seeing is believing. Or is it? In 1994, Time magazine published an electronically darkened cover photo of murder suspect O.J. Simpson. The resulting—and decidedly sinister—portrait prompted a debate about photo fakery. But photo manipulation is as old as photography itself. From the beginning, photographers have found ways to flatter subjects who may not be interested in accurate depictions of themselves. Early photographers used multiple exposures to reveal the “spirit world.” (Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was fooled by a 1917 photo of a little girl playing with fairies.) Government pictures from communist China and Russia were regularly “corrected” as various leaders fell in and out of favor. These days, anyone with Photoshop can create near-seamless photographic fakes. Former CIA photo interpreter Dino A. Brugioni tells you how to avoid being fooled when he discusses his book Photo Fakery: A History of Deception and Manipulation at 6 p.m. at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden’s Ring Auditorium, 7th and Independence Avenue SW. $13. For reservations call (202) 357-3030. (Mark W. Sullivan)