Photography Trivia

1. Who shot ya? Robert Capa did or, at least, we think he did. The photograph is called 'The Death of a Loyalist Soldier', supposedly depicting the shooting of a young Iberian soldier. It was taken in 1936 during which conflict?

From Quiz Who Shot Ya?

Answer: Spanish Civil War

Debate exists about the validity of Capa's iconic shot, which certainly de-romances war, as to whether the shot was 'live' action or staged. Certain research in the 1970's suggests that the battle site depicted is thirty kilometres from the place named in the shot lending weight to a 'staging' argument. The picture, however, remains as one of the most visible symbols of the Spanish War. Capa's philosophy on war photography was that "if your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough". He, literally, lived and died by this motto, taking some of the most amazing photographs of the D-Day landing at Omaha Beach whilst under heavy fire. He died when he stepped on a landmine during the First Indochina War.

From Quiz Dastardly Darkroom Deeds

Answer: O.J. Simpson

The picture was the mugshot of O.J. Simpson after his arrest for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. The artist at "Time" magazine darkened the photo to give it a more ominous look, which drew criticism that Simpson was being declared guilty before he had even been tried. The editor of "Time" defended the alteration as artistic - he claimed it was merely intended to emphasize the fall from grace, as did the title of "An American Tragedy". Ralph found it very sinister. During his trial, Simpson's defense team alleged that a photo showing Simpson wearing a pair of designer shoes had also been manipulated. Evidence from the murder scene indicated that the murderer had worn the particular shoes shown in the photograph, but Simpson denied owning them. PDAZ confesses that she has altered a photo purporting to show her on vacation with George Clooney...

From Quiz Obscure Trivia on Photography

Answer: Battle of Iwo Jima

Joe Rosenthal won a Pulitzer Prize for his war photo named "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima". War photographers brought home the brutality of war to those at home. This photograph appeared on the covers of multiple American magazines, as well as an American postage stamp, and served as inspiration for the Marine Memorial which stands outside Arlington National Cemetery.

From Quiz Who Shot Ya?

Answer: A spinning wheel

'Gandhi and his Spinning Wheel' is a photograph that almost did not happen. First, Gandhi's aides insisted that Margaret learn to use the wheel to fully appreciate its significance and why it needed to be in the picture. The Indian humidity caused grief to her equipment. The day of the shoot was Mahatma's 'day of silence' so she could not speak to him and, finally, she was only allowed three flash bulbs due to the leader's aversion to bright lights. The first flash failed. The second worked but Margaret had forgotten to use her slide and the resulting shot was blank. Fortunately it all came together for the final shot, providing the world with one of the most captivating photos of a charismatic man. The spinning wheel symbolised Gandhi's goal of India becoming self-reliant, urging the people to make their own clothing.

From Quiz Dastardly Darkroom Deeds

Answer: A plane

With the advancement of graphic design technology, such 'photoshopped' images are easy to find on the internet. After the tragedy involving 9/11, a picture of a man standing on the observation deck of the south tower circulated in which a plane was shopped into the background, moments from impact. Although it's unrealistic that such an image could be recovered, the photo was proven fake. The south tower, for example, wasn't the first to be hit. In addition, the wrong model of plane was shopped into the picture. To make matters worse, the observation decks weren't open to the public on that fateful day. This, amongst other issues, clearly pointed out the flaws in the dastardly image. Ralph, of course, picked up on all of these. Kyleisalive pulled this photo from the album.

From Quiz Dastardly Darkroom Deeds

Answer: U.S. poster companies, so as to not encourage smoking

It turned out that the U.S. poster companies had no authority to alter the image, which is owned by Apple Records. McCartney was not consulted about this action either. Many fans (including Ralph) were also unhappy about the change, as this picture had become one of the most iconic images of one of the most universally popular bands of all time. All of this fuss over a photo which took just 10 minutes to arrange! Politically correct photo changers claimed another victim in the summer of 2010, airbrushing the cigar from an image of Winston Churchill which stood at "The Britain at War Experience" in London. This question was "snapped" up by Doublemm, who surprised his team mates by showing he actually knows who The Beatles are ;).

From Quiz Obscure Trivia on Photography

Answer: France

Niepce was a French physicist who coated a sheet of pewter with an asphalt solution and placed it inside a camera obscura which was then set on a window sill. It took eight hours for it to develop, at which time he realized that he had the first permanent photograph known to man. He is also credited with creating the world's first internal combustion engine - a man of many talents!

From Quiz Who Shot Ya?

Answer: Che Guevara

Guevara was captured and executed by the Bolivian Army in 1967. They took the opportunity to have a picture taken to confirm the rebel's death and use it as a propaganda tool to quell his political movement. It back-fired in a way they were totally unprepared for. Unfortunately for them, Guevara's face in the shot looks to be in a state of peace as though he is offering his executioners forgiveness. It is said that in this image his face resembles that of Jesus Christ when he was taken down from the cross. To add weight to this, the English art critic John Berger observed that the photograph eerily resembled Andrea Mantegna's 'Lamentation over the Dead Christ'. To further damn the picture, one of the Bolivian officials is pointing to a wound on Guevara's chest, ironically, in a similar position to where Christ received his fatal wound.

From Quiz Who Shot Ya?

Answer: The Loch Ness Monster

Sightings of 'Nessie' date back as far as 565 but it was Wetherell's picture that inspired a wave of sightings, searches and a tourism boom for Scotland that is worth millions of dollars. In 1994 Christian Spurling, a model maker, admitted to creating the fake monster in association with his step father, Marmaduke Wetherell. The details of the deception were detailed in the 1999 book 'Nessie - The Surgeon's Photograph Exposed' by DM Martin and A Boyd.

From Quiz Who Shot Ya?

Answer: Hindenburg

Picture this (sorry about the pun): you wish to promote what is, at the time, the largest airship ever built. You set the time of arrival. You invite the press, newsreel cameramen and photographers. The timing, the day, the weather - all are fine. What could possibly go wrong? You fill the ship with highly flammable hydrogen instead of the difficult-to-get helium and the ship explodes. The resulting tragedy was that thirty five people lost their lives (remarkably 62 survived) but the implications went a lot deeper. The images that Becker took were flashed around the world and were so horrifying that public confidence in the dirigible as a viable form of passenger transport was shattered and the young zeppelin industry was all but killed off.

From Quiz Dastardly Darkroom Deeds

Answer: To show her thinner and taller

'A newly statuesque Kate Winslet towers on a pair of surprisingly slimline pins on the cover of next month's "GQ" magazine. The result of a pre-festive season crash diet? No, more like a little digital manipulation on the part of the magazine's art department.' (Source: "Hello" magazine, January 10th 2003) Ironically, the interview with Winslet within "GQ" magazine contained the words: "So why is it that women think in order to be adored they have to be thin? I just don't understand that way of thinking." In their defence, the editor of "GQ", Dylan Jones, maintained that all such photos are doctored: "These days you only get two kinds of pictures of celebrities - paparazzi pictures or pictures like these which have been highly styled, buffed, trimmed and altered to make the subject look as good as is humanly possible. We do that for everyone, whether they are a size six or a size 12. It hasn't a lot to do with body size. Practically every photo you see in a magazine will have been digitally altered in this way" (Source: BBC News January 9th 2003). Glendathecat is happy with Kate as she is but Ralph was rather taken with the llama option.

From Quiz Who Shot Ya?

Answer: Janet Jackson

In what was to become the most iconic pop photograph of the 1990's, this audacious shoot was described as the 'coming of age' for Janet Jackson, witnessing her move from 'austere to ecstatic'. The picture, which appeared on the cover of "Rolling Stone"'s September 16, 1993 edition, is said to capture her abilities as both role model and sex symbol in the same breath. No, the hands did not belong to some fortunate photographer's assistant; they were those of her husband at the time, René Elizondo, Jr.

From Quiz Dastardly Darkroom Deeds

Answer: tall-tale postcards

Around the turn of the century 'tall-tale' postcards featuring seemingly-gigantic crops and animals became very popular. You know, the ones where a man stands beside an ear of corn twice his height, and other such 'oddities'. 'Dad' Martin was a pioneer in the art of photo faking, famed for his attention to detail and his ability to capture a sense of motion in his trick images - one (titled 'I Finally Got Him') shows a man apparently riding a large fish, perched just behind its head. Most of the trick photos produced for postcards were much more static, and clearly posed. They are still seen today in tourist shops around the world. Looney_tunes must admit to having purchased (and sent) some of these trick postcards as a youngster. Ralph is unashamedly fascinated by them!

From Quiz Obscure Trivia on Photography

Answer: Life

"Life" magazine was originally published in 1883 as a general interest magazine. In 1936 the magazine switched its format to an all-photographic news magazine and then dominated this market until 1972. Photographs of world leaders, famous athletes, and movie stars have all graced the cover of this icon of American photojournalism.

From Quiz Who Shot Ya?

Answer: Man-Ray

In what may well have been the precursor to Photoshop, Man-Ray produced a range of experimental works that became known as 'Rayographs'. Ray, a great contributor to the dada and surrealist movements, manages to create a vision that is so much deeper than a casual viewing allows. On the initial hand he produces a picture that speaks of the similarities between the bodies of a woman and a violin. Looking deeper we find that he is producing a mirror view of a painting by noted French artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Ingres made his name for himself by painting nudes and playing the violin.

From Quiz Dastardly Darkroom Deeds

Answer: The Pyramids of Giza

The picture, as it was taken, was a horizontal or landscape shot displaying two of the three pyramids. "National Geographic" made use of a new technology, Scitex, which allowed for photographs to be digitised and then altered. To fit the vertical or portrait cover of the magazine, the pyramids were moved closer together. When the cover was criticised, the organisation at first defended the manipulation, saying that the image could have been taken as it appeared had the photographer been in a slightly different position. This response was met with further outrage and "National Geographic" later withdrew their defense and promised not to use the Scitex technology to make such alterations again. EmmaF2008 and Ralph think it is better to leave one of the Seven Wonders alone.

From Quiz Who Shot Ya?

Answer: Vietnam War

The saying is that a picture is worth a thousand words; however, it's the words that this picture doesn't tell that are the real story. The photograph throws the raw brutality of war into the viewer's face and certainly casts the shooter as a compassionless villain. The man being shot, however, was in charge of a Viet Cong "revenge squad" who, earlier that day had been responsible for the death of scores of 'unarmed' civilians. This image would go on to haunt the shooter, General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, for the rest of his life. He was refused treatment at a VA hospital for injuries in battle, he survived a campaign to have him deported from the USA and his pizza restaurant in Virginia was forced to close down when people found out who he was. Loan died of cancer in 1998. Adams later apologised to the general stating "The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera."

From Quiz Dastardly Darkroom Deeds

Answer: Bill Wyman

Bill Wyman was the bass player for the Rolling Stones from 1962 until his departure in December of 1992. Although he had played on most of the tracks included in the compilation, and was in the original photo taken in 1978, it was decided that he should not appear on the album cover as he was no longer part of the group. In the original photograph, Bill could be seen standing in the background, visible between Mick's and Keith's shoulders, with Charlie drumming to the left. Looney_tunes was more of a Beatles fan as a youngster, but agrees with Ralph that Bill Wyman got a rough deal here.

From Quiz Obscure Trivia on Photography

Answer: The Mexican-American War

The oldest war photos are from the Mexican-American War in 1847. These are posed photos that were taken with a daguerreotype which had a long development time and required the persons being photographed to stand perfectly still for numerous minutes. They were also incapable of taking any kind of action photography.

From Quiz Who Shot Ya?

Answer: Ansel Adams

In an age where photographers sought to manipulate images with gimmicks such as smearing their lenses with petroleum jelly, Adams allowed the landscape to speak for itself. In his eyes "beauty came first" and a photograph should always be "a blazing poetry of the real". Ansel was noted for his black and white images of America's West and the areas around Yosemite National park, many of which have graced countless calendars over the years. A passionate environmentalist, his photographs have gone a long way toward shaping the way we view our pristine wilderness and the ways we should preserve it.

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