Can't find pictures of army that reveal progressively more information

January 25, 2013 6:28 AM

I want to use this image for a critical thinking exercise in my classroom. I once saw a series of images that depict, what I remember to be a series of images that reveal more information as the frame pans backwards. But I can no longer find it.

The images went something like this:

1. a homeless man eating from a bowl
pan out
2. a gun muzzle pointed at the man's head
3. the man is a military prisoner and the army has him hostage

I can't remember what the last image is.

Also, my terrible mind is tricking me and I cannot remember if the image is from a modern war, or if the whole thing was a political cartoon.

Anyone have any ideas?

posted by swimbikerun to Education (8 answers total)

Best answer: This isn't exactly what you've described, but seems to be similar? Found here.
posted by catch as catch can at 7:13 AM on January 25, 2013

I actually see this or something very like it posted on 4chan's /pol/ all the time. Tonight, I will see if I have saved it.
posted by adipocere at 7:32 AM on January 25, 2013

This technique is used in comedy and is called "Pull back and reveal".
posted by devnull at 7:39 AM on January 25, 2013

This isn't the image you're looking for, but Susan Sontag wrote about framing the Abu Ghraib photographs and how seeing the full photograph gave an even worse picture than the ones the media showed. Annoyingly, I can't find the article with the pictures online, but here's the article and here's the picture (the man examining his fingernails was cropped out in most photos).
posted by walla at 8:24 AM on January 25, 2013

This technique is used in comedy

Not just comedy; it's frequently found in intelligent drama as well, e.g. Breaking Bad. Many episodes -- even scenes, esp. post-ad -- open with an ambiguous image whose connection to the plot you're supposed to consider. "What are we looking at? Where are we? Who is this? Why????" Successive, minor reveals bring you closer and closer.

I think the search term you want here is "reverse chronology". You'll pull up a lot of narrative movies and such, e.g. Memento, Harold Pinter, etc.
posted by dhartung at 11:10 AM on January 25, 2013

Best answer: Here is the one I was thinking of. 4chan delivered. I think you can find a better bit on it over here.
posted by adipocere at 1:18 PM on January 26, 2013

A very relevant real-life example was provided by Brian Walksi, a photojournalist who merged two battlefield shots in a way that told the story he wanted; the images he got were a) a soldier holding out his hand to calm a crowd, and b) a soldier "pointing" his gun at a man holding a child; by combining a) and b) in a manner similar to the 4chan cropping example, he ended up with a photo that was circulated worldwide showing a pacifistic side of American troops in Iraq.
posted by dhartung at 2:50 PM on January 26, 2013

Response by poster: Thanks everyone! You guys are awesome.

Catch, adipocere, that's more than likely the image that I was remembering. Funny how the mind plays tricks.
posted by swimbikerun at 11:41 AM on January 29, 2013