Photographers Show How Easily The Media Can Manipulate Us During Covid-19 By Taking The Same Photo From Two Different Angles
Using a wide-angle and a telephoto lens, the photos primarily illustrate the difference angles can make in depicting the distance between people and objects.
Danish photographers Ólafur Steinar Gestsson and Philip Davali set out to show just how much a camera angle can change a story. By photographing the same scenes with both a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens, they made the distance between people look dramatically different, even when nothing in the scene had changed.
That contrast matters even more during Covid-19, when spacing is not just a visual trick but a real issue. The pair, who work with Ritzau Scanpix in Copenhagen, also sparked plenty of online reactions after sharing the comparison shots.
Scroll on to see how the same moments can look completely different from one angle to the next.
Photo 1 - Telephoto lens. A crowded line.
Ólafur Steinar Gestsson & Philip Davali - Ritzau ScanpixPhoto 1 - Wide-angle lens... HUGE GAPS between the people!
Ólafur Steinar Gestsson & Philip Davali - Ritzau ScanpixPhoto 2 - Telephoto lens. People hanging out and socializing...
Ólafur Steinar Gestsson & Philip Davali - Ritzau Scanpix
Photo 2 - Wide-angle lens. People are actually keeping their distance.
Ólafur Steinar Gestsson & Philip Davali - Ritzau Scanpix
The difference is hard to miss.
Photo 3 - Telephoto lens. Crowded park picnic.
Ólafur Steinar Gestsson & Philip Davali - Ritzau Scanpix
Photo 3 - Wide-angle lens... Everyone is actually sitting pretty far apart.
Ólafur Steinar Gestsson & Philip Davali - Ritzau Scanpix
Photo 4 - Telephoto lens. People sitting so close they can likely overhear each other's conversations.
Ólafur Steinar Gestsson & Philip Davali - Ritzau Scanpix
Photo 4 - Wide-angle lens. A good distance apart.
Ólafur Steinar Gestsson & Philip Davali - Ritzau Scanpix
Same scene, very different impression.
Photo 5 - Telephoto lens.
Ólafur Steinar Gestsson & Philip Davali - Ritzau Scanpix
Photo 5 - Wide-angle lens... 1.5m gap.
Ólafur Steinar Gestsson & Philip Davali - Ritzau Scanpix
The internet reacted the way you'd expect.
People online had plenty to say about the comparison.
It’s the same “zoom in, change the story” trick behind the Google Maps camera clues that helped crack unsolved crimes.
This is fact!
Never trust cameras!
Wise words!
And then came the pushback.
And then came advice.
They do... you just weren't listening.
It's all in the perspective.
Source
Perspective really can change everything.
Want more mind-blowing before-and-after views, check out Tom Dobinson turning everyday places into unforgettable cinematic scenes.
