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Originally posted by docetboy
Once this picture gets into the mainstream...featuring just how close Kerry and Hanoi Jane were.
About Hanoi Jane Fonda: http://snopes.com/military/fonda.htm
For those of you thinking it might be fake, Snopes points out the following:
Origins: We're not absolutely sure of the origins and dating of this photograph, which purports to show Massachusetts Senator (and the potential 2004 Democratic nominee for President) John Kerry at a September 1970 anti-war rally in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, but much evidence points to its authenticity:
The image shows no obvious signs of digital manipulation.
----- The person pictured in the background (just above Jane Fonda's head) looks like a young John Kerry, who was 26 years old in 1970
The Kerry Campaign has confirmed that the candidate was at the rally and spoke there.
In terms of "how close" they were, consider this. You can see, with no photographic expertise, that Kerry is at least two to three rows behind Fonda in what appears to be a large crowd.
Notice how out of focus his face is. Because it is fairly clear that the shot was taken outside in reasonably bright sunshine, that indicates at least two things:
1) It was probably shot with a telephoto lens from some distance away, and
2) that even under those (sunshine) conditions which expand what we call "depth of field" (two points between which a camera lens will capture its subject in hard focus -- the forground and background will be in soft focus), his face is in soft focus. What that tells those of us who make our living around lenses is that, while the use of telephoto generally decreases depth of field, the higher number fstop used in bright sunshine increases it.
OK, I admit that's confusing. Here's what it means, though. Kerry was not "with" Jane Fonda at this rally. He was sitting somewhere in the crowd several feet behind her.
My only point is this: The picture proves that Kerry was (admittedly) at the same rally -- to say, as it does above -- that it shows how "close" the two were is highly misleading.
Edited to add that the angle of the camera (shooting from "our" right to left) makes it look like Kerry is closer to Fonda as well. In reality, he is at
least two to three (or maybe one or two more) people to her right, our left.
So, that puts him about three (horizontal for the sake of the pic) rows behind and at least three (vertical) rows to her right.
Is that "close" in the context of friends in a crowd. I wouldn't say so.
Sorry for the rant, but I hate propaganda tactics like this -- no matter who they're used against or for.