The House Minority Leader explains her office’s doctoring a group photo of elected female members of Congress on the Capitol Steps—airbrushing several into the picture who weren’t actually there and otherwise prettying things up—insisting the photo accurately represents the historical record. (That’s the doctored photo, as released by Pelosi’s office.) Besides, she says, it was cold outside and the women didn’t want to wait for the no-shows. More, including the link to an AP piece that includes video of Pelosi being asked about it at a presser, after the jump.
Here’s an excerpt from the National Press Photographers Association and the White House News Photographers Association, released over the weekend:
A further review of the photo shows that not only were the four missing Congresswomen added but that the image was also manipulated to show other Congresswomen who were blocked in the original photo as well as redoing the hair of another. Rather than being a true and “accurate historical record” as the House Minority Leader stated in her defense of the use of the photo, the hand-out represents an example of the dangers in using a manipulated official photograph, thus undermining the public’s trust in visual images.
- AP piece, including video of her presser
- Poynter’s roundup of the photo brouhaha and the enlarged photos, real and doctored
