Paranoia strikes again? I do not think so, read on.
A heavily doctored image, by those with opinions against our side in powerful media positions, has arose in a tabloid recently and has been discussed very briefly by our very own Mr LOTW. In no offence to LOTWs postings I have opted to go one step deeper.
I have decided with the art of the ethics and codes of journalism in which I have some experience to highlight these deceptive folks who have tampered with a series of images by using simple photoshop techniques and methods to give the wrong or right impression to its readers.
This investigation will show that the image (seen below) has been tampered with in instance to make it more visually shocking and suggestively ‘newsworthy’.
I have not made edits to the picture below and I have only took clear zoomed screenshots of the evidence.
My first point is the chap who has his arms out in the Adidas hooded top, if the picture is as it looks I do not condone this type of behaviour, but as one celebrates or begins to celebrate they do throw their arms up and if a photo is took at the right time the pose above can be possibly caught. I will re-instate that I do not condone any racial actions or abuse to any ethnicity, this is a pure investigation to show that the image above has been tampered with.
My second point – proof part 1 – The floating corner flag. Just above the ‘P’ letter in the word ‘Cops’ an orange and yellow corner flag waving in the wind can be seen on a yellow pole. Look at it closely as it goes down through the ‘P’ to the ‘S’ in the word ‘this’, then follow it further down below the ‘S’ in the word ‘this’. You can clearly see it just ends and looks like it is floating. There is a clear gap a couple of millimetres at the bottom of the ‘yellow flag pole’.
I will let you be the judges :-
If you look at the main 1st image, (whole image) why is diouf looking down to place the ball when the corner flag is floating four or five feet away from him spookily in the air like some type of poltergeist was involved?
My third point – proof part 2 – On closer inspection of the ball that Diouf is holding their can be clear ‘smudge’ markings. This is done by a brush option on the Photoshop menu which is merely selected and smudge whatever you click down and drag across.
This is again clear proof that the image has been doctored and edited: –
The ball is not even round it has been clearly inserted into the image very badly and the bottom of the ball is clearly smudged and arguably ghost like.
My fourth point – proof part 3 – Dioufs head has clearly been also smudged to make it mix in with the background and purposely blurred so at first glance it is not easily noticed and makes the reader focus on the crowd which is less blurred and more in focus. The Photoshop application also has a blurring tool to make parts of images / or whole images look out of focus :-
My fifth point – proof part 4 – During my investigation into looking at the image I came to the conclusion that the whole of El Hadji Diouf had been Photoshopped into or onto another image of the Celtic crowd and the gesticulating man in the adidas hooded top.
This has been done to add to the argument the paper is making. Obviously without Diouf in the image who is African / Senegalese the paper would have no racial arguement and the gesticulating man in the hooded top could just have been papped in the early stages of throwing his arms up in the air in disgust or celebration.
If you look at the full zoomed image of Diouf I have took from the main image you can see the lines where the image of Diouf has been photoshopped in: –
Look along the line of his back, near the base of his back, the colours seem to mix at one point, a case of blurring the image and maybe a suggestive essence that it was smudged to make it look justified with the background.
In conclusion with the above evidence, ‘In the interest of the public’, as most journalists argue, the story is tangeable as the gesticulating man appears in the image as well as Diouf, stating a case that racism has took place and has been caught on camera.
However this is deceptive, as without Diouf in the image there is no arguement, just a shot of the crowd with a very questionable fan with his arms in the air in a suggestive position.
Diouf has been photoshopped into the image to give it the story more leverage on the ‘racism’ angle they have obviously aimed at. I however do not know how the gesticulating man came to be in a position where it looks like he is ‘seen as’ making a racial statement, it could be a papped photo that is not harmful at all or in no other words the fan is a racist.
The newspaper has mixed two or more images to shock the prospective readers or viewers of the paper. I ask our fans and all fans of football really to be aware not to take something at first glance. I am not condoning acts of racism at all but why has the image been doctored? Question yourselves why before making ‘knee jerk’ reactions as that is what the paper wants you to think at first glance.
Newspapers where images have been used that have been edited have to clearly state that it HAS been altered to gain a certain retrospect.
In relation to ‘image doctoring’, this is frowned up heavily in journalism and in some cases journalists have been sacked for tampering with images. For example the Reuters news agency have dealt with cases where images have been doctored by a journalist and that journalist has been sacked: –
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/photojournalist-dropped-by-reuters-for-doctoring-image/s2/a51961/
I also offer more evidence to links regarding the ethics of such cases: –
http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2006/08/ethics.html
The stated links give leverage to my point and suggest that what the tabloid in question has done is wrong and is a breach of the ethics of photojournalism. In such cases the offending journalist has been sacked so why can this be allowed in the UK, do these journalists think they are above the rules?
I leave this now in your hands Celts with an email address for the National union of journalists is this worthy of reporting to take the case higher?
If you believe so send them an email and link to this post, to prove my point exactly, it is a doctored image and the paper does not state they have doctored the image as they should have CLEARLY STATED.
I contacted the NOTW by e-mail simply asking why the image was altered. They passed me around before I got a message saying that I may not get a reply because they’re busy. That was 24 hours ago and I’m not holding my breath.
I would think it’s a fairly easy question to answer if there’s nothing sinister behind it.
As soon as I seen this image the other day my first reaction was this has been doctored.
You have mentioned some of the points within the image I noticed myself, but I’d like to point out a few other things that caught my suspicious eye also.
The blacked out part is there to cover up the Join, as I actually believe it is two separate images and incidents joined together as one.
The guy in the grey jacket on the stairs, if you look at his chest then you will notice a Ghosts face on his chest area, and there is no body on the face, maybe it’s Billy the fish from the Viz ?
Also look at the fair play badge on dioufs arm, well notice beside it you will see a black jacket arm, that is a ball bhoy, also notice part of the Green ball boy bib?
The advertising board, it has no advertising on it, and look at the alignment of the advertising board compared to how the wall is running, just looks of to me.
The green wall behind the ball boy, look closely and what it looks to me is a seat, folded up, and it looks like the green wall has been painted over but the lines still remain of a folded up seat.
Another thing is the grass on the left side of the image, two things I noticed are the spots that haven’t been coloured in properly,secondly the grass runs all the way to the barrier/Wall/Gate, and thirdly shouldn’t the grass be joined to Red Ash instead of Barrier etc ?
They say this is in the Jock Stein corner, the way diouf is placing the ball and facing means that he will be kicking the ball directly into the main stand ?
I’m looking at the Lad in the Adidas top, and along with the few fans beside him on the left side of the image their focus is not on Diouf, they all looking at something else, maybe they all have squints ?
Let’s say this is the Jock Stein corner, I was located in the opposite corner in the North Stand lower, in line with the corner flag about four rows back, and all the way along the by- line from corner to corner there was stewards in bright orange jackets along with numerous cameramen/photographers all wearing yellow hi viz vests, so where are they in this image ?
At the 2 each game at mordor there was an image of George Peat celebrating a Rangers goal splashed all over the internet within hours of the game finishing, so I’m curious as to why this image took a week to surface ?
Knowing what the laptop loyal are like for trying to find dirt to discredit Celtic with why did they miss this ? And I’m sure the Huns would have spotted this and surely it would have been used instantly just like the Peat image.
To me in my opinion this image(s) look like it’s from TV stills, not unless the photographer is standing on the pitch, I’ve zoomed in on several images I found on google of inside Celtic Park, and I can’t find a match up of that advertising board,wall,gate etc.
And also the colour of green doesn’t look like Celtic Park green, just looks to dark a green in my opinion ?? And there is no white lines, corner arch etc where diouf is placing the ball.
Didn’t the sun once run with a doctored image of the comedian Kevin bridges holding aloft a F the Rangers scarf ?
I hate all forms of racism, and if someone is guilty of it then yes punishment and eduction must be applied, but this lad for me has a case in my opinion.
Earlier today I stood in front of my full length mirror, and I acted out a reaction I often find myself doing when watching the Celts.
Now I’m not in the habit of acting like a loony in front of mirrors in my spare time, but in my mind the Celts are in full flow, Hooper gets the Ball inside the box, he cracks a shot and it’s heading into the bottom right hand corner, I jump up of my seat, I’m waiting for the ball to hit the back of the net and all of a sudden it gets turned round the post by the keeper, my mouth is opened going oooohHhhhh and my arms become raised to clutch the side of my head, now seconds before my arms reach my head, my mouths open, I’m going ooooohhh and both arms are at the position the Bhoy in the green adidas top is, and there it is I’m looking at myself in the mirror and I look like some mad monkey gesturing racist ?
Probably sounds over dramatic but that is a normal reaction thousands of fans could be caught out with that could make them look like monkey chanters in any stadium up and down the country ?
I also find it strange that this lad has supposed to have run down the stairs to that spot and there just happens to be an empty seat there ? For all we know that image could have been from a different game, the journalist saying he ran down stairs to make it difficult for him to be identified ?
Maybe I’m reading to much into it all, but my gut is telling me this lad is being set up, maybe in time it will be proved fake, and NOTW get’s their ass whooped through the court rooms.
Hail Hail
On the ball boy, isn’t he just sitting behind a board?
Scratch that. I’ve had a look at all the highlights and pictures and there are no green boards like that.
There are the green boxes that the photographers sit behind. That isn’t what the boy ball is behind as they’re far to short and there’s holes behind them.
I suppose the ball boy could suffer from dwarfism and be able to levitate…
The photo, undoctored, was in the paper today and shows the same thing. The man in question has also handed himself into the police.
Lhads. Sad to say it but I seen this fool make the gesture. I was sitting more or less directly opposite in first few rows of block 114. Was suprised noone else ha spotted him. He was the one black spot on a great day in paradise. Doctored image or not it did happen, finding this racist and getting him banned from Celtic park is more important as hounding the journalist/photographer.
The pic’s wrong on so many levels, well done Sean.
The grass, the ball, the crowd the sewer rat himself, but I must say, the floating corner flag levetating yards from were the sewer rat’s supposedly taking the corner’s a stonewall clincher!
With the greatest respect to you Sean, I’m sure Celtic can afford to get this ‘photograph’ analysed by a company specialising in such work, using hi-tech forensic methods and come up with irrefutable proof this pic has been tampered with.
That being the case, which I’m now positive it is, Dr Reid should earn his money and his reputation by tearing this mob apart in the courts.
If you look just below the C in cops,the arm of the guy in the jacket is actually in front of the guy with the Adidas top.
How can this be if he is (as clearly shown )behind Adidas guy.
It has been reported that Adidas guy ran down to the front stayed a few seconds to do his monkey dance and was then abused by other fans.
Did he barge through the two guys behind him, who don’t look too perturbed and then barge back through them to make his escape.
By the way . Are these guys standing on the stairs.
But then we all know how lenient the stewards are at Celtic Park about that
Does the fan pictured not have some sort of recourse to legal action?
i just hope the boy in the picture has consulted a lawyer about this and gets the huge payday he is due for these wicked lies.
I have a copy of a Sunday Mail supplement magazine and a Daily R picture from a few years ago of the same picture though one of the pictures shows Paul Lambert celebrating the league with Tommy Johnston a popes eleven scarf doctored onto the photo and I have the same photo undoctored which is just a normal scarf, supposed to be a year apart.
Lhads i’d love to say this pic has been completely doctored as it shows one of our fans being a racist. Unfortunately it is obvious what he was doing. Yes they are two seperate photos but they are only showing from different angles and possibly seconds apart. This type of behaviour should not be tollerated at Celtic Park. The guy should be banned from the stadium. As for Dioufus (an even bigger scumbag)I hope Big Dan or Broony send him into row Z tonight! Hail Hail JCGE!
For me, the bit between the words ‘racist’ and ‘abuse’ just looks wrong. Also, the wall/advertisement boards seem to curve outwards away from the pitch- and this is meant to be beside the corner flag? Bad Photoshop work!
Correct me if i am wrong but did diouf not have a blue mohichan hairstyle(no sign of it in photo)
yep~~~~~~ total fake!!!
where’s El Spitters blue plum???
Good Work you guys~~~~~
Undoctored image
http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/5766/av3ozo.jpg
get a life pal
why, go on enlighten me?
Its clear that that picture was taken before he bent down to pick up the ball which is when the incident took place. The guy was caught inciting racial hatre which is not wat we need in scottish football
I posted an undoctored image to prove the point of the blog. I didn’t say at anytime that it was taken at the exact same time.
I hope the guy gets done if it’s proved beyond doubt that he did it.
two points 1.we don,t need(fans)like him………….2.the picture is a FAKE
correct on both counts. have a biscuit.
FANTASTIC! CAN’T STOP LAUGHING AT THIS POST. THE FUNNIEST EVER.
“GOOD WORK YOU GUYS” PRICELESS!!
Thanks from us all at http://www.thecelticblog.com we need to expose the biased media for what it really is. This has been going on for years LOTW may have more knowledge on the subject matter than myself, but all in all the offending newspapers should be punished, the sad thing is this will probably be swept under the carpet unless our club tackles the issue itself.
I’m glad that it entertained. Sean proved the photo was doctored and we said if the guy did it he is scum.
good all round.
As for th ball not being the correct shape, is that not wat commons and others pointed out to the ref who done nothing about it?
the ball was replaced after the first goal in that game…
I am a man who works for the News of the World. I paid this fans £100 to make monkey gestures. Now can anyone prove me wrong? My point is that this guy may be making monkey gestures to a known racist, but is he a real Celtic fan? Is he from the orange order? Is he telling the known racist in the picture that his girlfriend has chebbs “this big”?
What is certain is that this picture has been doctored and a real picture would not have needed to be. Phil mac Giolla Bhain has had a chat with a source in the Scum of the World. The source admitted the picture was altered to get the headline in. They didn’t need to put the headline in the middle. They could have put the headline on the top or bottom of the picture. It was placed in the middle so that the mistakes could be hidden easier. By making it look such a bad photoshopped picture, it leaves it open to debate.
The picture that appeared in the Scum of the World, (still under investigation for phone tapping) has at least two different moments from the same game. With some glue and scissors, some old Blue Peter videos, they came up with this. The only true fact about this headline is the word “racist”. El Hadji Diouf is a known racist, who has been charged by the police in the past for telling a ball-boy to, “fuck off, white boy”. If this person in the green addias top had been making monkey gestures to this racist, do you think the known racist would have just stood there and not at least complained to someone.
We are all being conned and if we really want real headlines, why do I not read about the death threats to Neil Lennon? Why do I not read about Neil Lennon and his family being moved from their home in the middle of the night because of UDA death threats? Why do I not read about celtic players being sent death threats in any great detail? Why does the death threats sent to Celtic players merit a few lines in these scum papers, and this picture gets a front page?
There is an old saying. The best place to hide the truth is between two lies. Lie one is the headline. The truth is that at the moment this picture was meant to have been taken, what we see did not happen. Lie two is admitting that the picture was tampered with so the headline could be placed there.
This has been done for one reason and one reason only. To stir up religious hatred and when that turns to the death of a player/manager, we will have ourselves a little civil war. Welcome to Ireland in the seventies people.