Working with values through folktales
13 years ago
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Photo of a cannibal?
Last class in L&C III, Néstor delivered his presentation on cannibalism in the novel Robinson Crusoe. He was concerned with the factual existence of cannibals, whether past or present, and he showed us an image found in Google, apparently portraying a cannibal rite. A debate consequently arose. Can we trust a photograph? Is this image really showing a cannibal? Here is the photo; we would like to hear your opinion.
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8 comments:
In Néstor´s presentation on cannibalism,he wanted to prove that cannibalism did not and do not exist.So,he related the meaning of this word just as a ritual connected to religion.
when I saw the image,in fact,did not think in cannibalism.However,I could represent in my mind an image of a war or a battle.After discussing I strongly agreed with the idea of victory after a won war this photo showed.It was represented by a man rising a hand,maybe of one of his opponents,and also by the expression of his face of happiness.All in all,we not only have to be carefull with the images we find but also with the information.How we interpret these things is the most difficult part.FLAVIA
Although it didn’t seem to me that Nestor’s intention in showing that particular picture was to prove the existence of cannibalism (I rather think he was just prompting out the topic); I found profitable to considerer the idea of reliableness in evidence. In my view, any bit of evidence is susceptible to criticism and doubt for it is the product data -usually attractive to the mind- and personal choices.
Congratulations Nestor and Yani for your always insightful presentations.
Note: “Robinson Columbus” and the rotations of Nestor’s visual aids along with my own many slip-ups will be added to our already large body of pizza-time anecdotes.
I picked up this pìc from the net so that you would be able to interpret it for your own. Your interpretation is personal. When one start searching for images, there are plenty of drawings and photos available on the net referring to the word 'cannibalism.' Nevertheless, do these pics represent cannibalism? or are they mere representations of the subjective point of view of the artist or the photographer in question? This is just the reason of why I decided to include it. In addition to this topic,I became surprised as soon as I started reading Jonathan Swift's article entitled 'A Modest Proposal.' Page second refer to cannibalism and Swift's opinion towards this differs by far from the oral presentation I delivered in class since he seems to take for granted this practice during the 18th century. Flavia and company, I invite all of you to read this article by Swift to discuss it in class. I will be eager to hear your opinions.Bye, bye and be so kind enough to start reading please ?!. NESTOR
At first sight,I thought that the man was really a cannibal.I only changed my point of view when I observed the man's eyes.So,I realised that he isn't looking at his supposed food but he is posing for a photograph.
By default, I tend to distrust pictures taken from the web. I've learnt that any image can be modified and even created almost from scratch in a matter of seconds using only software. It looks to me as though the rotten arm was added to the picture by software manipulation. And two facts might help to strengthen my supposition:
1. The terrible quality of the picture. Using low resolution images is the first resource for fakers, as stretched pixels do a great job in blurring the scene and confusing the eye.
2. Why isn't the 'cannibal' holding the arm he's eating? Analyze the situation for a minute and you'll see what I mean... the scene looks a little bit forced, doesn't it?! Imagine someone at the kiosk holding a chocolate in the air so that you can eat it from behind while someone's taking a picture :P!
Personally, I´m new in the use of web resources so I must confess that I doubt of everything that is not written on a book. This year working for this subject I learnt to investigate and trust only in the information given in serious and authorized pages. Mainly with pictures, I only trust on those which are included in well known pages or are commented on reliable URL´s addresses. In this case I don´t think we can trust on the reliability of the picture because we don´t know the origin of the photograph.And appart from that the person on it looks as if he/she was in a planned situation or forced to do what is doing but not as if it were a real act of cannivalism.
To be honest, I doubt wether this photograph is a real image of a cannibal. In that respect, I agree with Ruth on the reliability of the image and perhaps of its source.
Anyway, the chance to share this "ciber-room" made me think about the possibility of sharing a presentation and debating this issue (cannibalism) or any other - I mean "Culture III" and "Culture IV" teams meeting at a certain day and time at the TTC to exchange ideas, comments, beliefs, etc.
I agree with Ruth and Cristina. In my opinion, I doubt about this image. I don't believe on the reliability of it. At first sight, I thought it was a cannibal. When I started to pay more attention to it, the man seems that he is interested in the photograph and he doesn't pay attention to the arm itself.
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