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You're missing the point, DB.

The interesting thing about the photo is the juxtaposition of the faces of the bored airline passengers with the war dead being unloaded.

Freakout Jackson wrote:

I think that picture was taken by black jesus

WTF???!!!

I'm gonna have to rule Tallgese's response the best.

It's in the arts section because it's from an article about a book that's about soliders killed in action.

While “Final Salute” is not a muckraking book, it is still quietly horrifying. It bears witness to the ways in which casualties from Iraq are shielded from sight. Mr. Sheeler’s readers may not have realized, for instance, that dead soldiers’ coffins have been hidden in cardboard boxes (ostensibly to protect the coffins), toted by forklifts and stowed in the cargo holds of passenger planes.

It's 'shopped and the artist didn't try to hide that it was 'shopped.
The people in the windows are too obvious - and it was done to make a statement, not to try and deceive anyone.

Therefore, I don't have a problem with it.

I think the statement being made is along the lines of soldiers dying while we go one with our frivolous lifestyles. I'd need to see it in its original context to get a better feel for what the artist was trying to say.

Once again ... Tallgeese for the win.

The caption reads

at the Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac. During the arrival of another Marine's casket at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as one of the most powerful in the process: "See the people in the windows? They'll sit right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They're going to remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They're going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should."

Remember, the passengers are illuminated by fluorescent  lights. The plane is stopped, and a few of them can see a hearse, or maybe a crying individual on the tarmac. They probably can't see the casket. And a few of them are just anxious to end their flight.

Tallgeese wrote:

jerwin wrote:

1. It's not photoshopped.
2. Riding in planes is not frivolous

look, I know. I have seen quite a few 'shops in my time.

I was responding to resedit.

The lighting on the passengers is wrong. The passengers are not back lit as they would be from the cabin lighting. - they are lit from the front.

Frivolous isn't quite the right word but it's close.

Last edited by resedit (2008-06-06 2:15 am)

In a similar vein (or should I say vain, since it too will no doubt be 'shopped in some people's eyes?), here's an incredible and moving article that ran in Esquire: The Things That Carried Him.

Last edited by Mustapha Mond (2008-06-06 6:54 am)

That's weird. I don't get any pop-ups or anything.

I didn't the second time I clicked (just now) - probably a naughty advertiser.

OK - so some advertisers need to have their asses kicked