I've always tied to maintain a sense of professional detachment when considering the latest pop conspiracy fad, especially when they involve photography. I know a little something about the topic, having been a photographer and photo editor for nearly forty years, having built my own darkroom at 13, and in recent years, having had some editorial experience with computer photo techniques.
Having said all that, much of the documentary evidence surrounding Barack Obama is really challenging my skepticism. It seems as though nothing about this guy is self-evidently original; whether it's the "Certification of Live Birth"; a legitimate copy in my estimation, but not truly the original (why?), the lack of an educational paper trail unlike any other President of the United States ever, and... then there are photographs like this.
I have looked at this photograph for some months now, although I have not discussed it on FR. I have examined it in great detail using every photo editor and image manipulator I have. And the reason I have hesitated to say anything is because it is troubling. It looks odd, even to the naked eye, and it's not simply because there's a tall black kid seated in the middle of some white kids. The shadows are oddly fixed. The pixelation is at odds with that in the rest of the photograph. The gamma value and or/contrast of Obama's image is lower than those in the surrounding areas, and his image appears significantly sharper.
It is very strange. I have extracted a number of enhanced images from this photograph, and I'll not bore you with all of them, but here are two: they show the shadow detail under Barack's neck. The first is a standard enlargement, while the second shows pixelation. The red outlines are meant to show the areas I think may be questionable.
I offer no conclusions. I report, you decide:
