> Now all you have to do it prove the United States Government, and ONLY > the United States Government is responsible for retouching the 1950 > publicity still used on the dust jacket of an "autobiography" released 7 > years after her death.
Where did I claim that an agency of the U.S. govt, or the government itself, had any part in the presentation of the "Bette Davis Speaks" image? That was between the publishers and Davis's management, and any alterations made were for their purpose. Funny thing is, I had invoked Occam's Razor in support of my proposition, but edited the passage out in the name of brevity. To me, Occam's Razor dictates that the stamp artist would not have created a complex, ambiguous and, smokingwise, incriminating fictional hand when he could have more simply just obscured a cigarette. Plus, the biography cover looks dodgy to anybody with the experience to recognize the dodginess. Regards, Anthony > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > John Sessoms > Sent: Saturday, 18 October 2008 9:56 AM > To: pdml@pdml.net > Subject: RE: OT - Govt Agency doctors photograph to sanitize history > > From: Anthony Farr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > John Sessoms wrote: > >> > And I'm going to say again, I don't see any evidence that the "original" > >> > image was sanitized. It just doesn't look like she was holding a > >> > cigarette when the photo was taken. > > > > John, > > > > The oldest version of this picture I can find on the web comes from the > > dustjacket of the biography "Bette Davis Speaks" or is a perfect tonal > > replica of that version, indicating that they are all the same version from > > a common source (Hollywood portraits were hand made in large quantities and > > very quickly, so it's common to see noticeable variations from one source to > > another). > > > > Anybody who's ~worked~ in photography for any time, especially with large > > format B&W involving retouch artists and subsequent copying and printing > > from the copyneg, can see that this is a 2nd or lower generation > > reproduction, not a print from the original negative. Davis's hand is > > tonally and proportionally strange, and the remainder of the picture shows > > the signature tonality of a 2nd or lower generation copy. As well, why > > would the postage stamp artist move her hand into an incriminating (for > > cigarette smoking) position if it was originally in an innocent position? > > It's highly illogical. It's more logical to conclude that he had access to > > an original image and that's the position her hand was in. > > > > I'm satisfied the painter changed the position of the hand to meet the > requirements of a narrower image for the postage stamp ... the same > reason the guitar neck & hand got moved between the Robert Johnson photo > and the Robert Johnson stamp. > > > > > Early in my career it was my job to make copynegs and to print aerial photos > > which were overdrawn by hand by cartographers (pre-CAD). That work made > me > > very familiar with the difference in tonality from 1st to later generations > > of reproduction. At the risk of blowing my own trumpet, I can easily spot a > > later generation, extensively retouched work. Anybody who's done similar > > work should be able, as well. > > > > The Bette Davis portrait in question is such a work and can't be trusted > > until an original movie studio print, contemporary with the movie's release > > and not the much later book's release, can be seen. > > > > Regards, Anthony > > > > Now all you have to do it prove the United States Government, and ONLY > the United States Government is responsible for retouching the 1950 > publicity still used on the dust jacket of an "autobiography" released 7 > years after her death. > > And that the retouching was taken with malice aforethought for the sole > purpose of hiding the fact that she smoked. > > I just don't see it. > > Occam's Razor sez the painter "moved" the hand so it'd fit on the stamp. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
