Cruise ship photo: Fake or real?

Posted at 4:13 PM on January 17, 2012 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)
Filed under: Arts, Disasters

This image is sweeping across the Internet, apparently spawning questions about priorities and perspective. A couple pays attention to their baby, while tragedy looms just a few feet away.

But is it fake or real?

If anything, there's something going on in the photography to make the ship closer than it really is.

Here are several pictures that suggest there isn't a sidewalk or bench area anywhere nearby.

All of these might lead one to conclude it's a fake. There doesn't appear to be a sidewalk within range to make the shot possible.

But then I found this one:

Your verdict?

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Comments (8)

Your question regarding "Priorities and perspective" hits the nail on the head. The shot is real, but it's deceptive because of the perspective. Using a large telephoto lens to get the up close shot of the couple would cause the background to 'compress' making it look like the ship is much closer than it really is.

It's like the old fisherman's trick. What's the best way to make your fish look bigger than it really is? Hold it away from your body closer to the camera......

Posted by CHS | January 17, 2012 4:38 PM

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I'd like to know what, if anything kicks out to the right of the red light house in the 3 shots that include it. I suspect it might be what we see in the last photo. If that's the case then the picture is possible and depending on the lens used the depth of field might get screwed up.

Posted by JackU | January 17, 2012 4:38 PM

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Wait, are people suggesting that these people are somehow wrong for attending to a child? If the child is crying/hungry/in need then it is their responsibility to attend to the child regardless of what is happening around them. Same as if there was a world series parade or Mardi Gras happening behind them

Posted by Kassie | January 17, 2012 5:13 PM

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"While tragedy looms just feet behind them."

= Hilarious

Now, I don't have kids, but if I did, they would be the most important thing in the world to me. That being said, I wouldn't always treat them like they were the only person in the world and ignore everything around me. I would also know that nothing my kid could do while in a stroller (aside from reading off winning lottery numbers or saying 'Papa' before 'Momma') would be as cool as a sinking cruise ship. I would be gawking for sure, absent-mindedly shaking a rattle to distract my kid.

However, these people are not. They're feeding their kid, or bundling him/her in, or fussing. They're not focused on the tragedy 'mere feet' behind them because, well, there's nothing they can do about it. Freaking out won't raise the ship out of the sea, they aren't going to abandon their baby while they swim out to search for survivors. The baby is immediate and they can do something about it. The cruise ship? Sucks, but somebody's probably been called about it, and that's the limit of what people hundreds of feet of water from a giant sinking boat could have done at the time.

Posted by Ben | January 17, 2012 6:15 PM

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If the woman in the photo is a Kardashian, then yes the photo would be considered 'fake'.

Posted by This is NOT lucy | January 17, 2012 9:57 PM

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They are both real. In the last photo you can see the wall and the bench in question - but it is covered with equipment. Either the equipment was only there briefly, or the photo with the couple was taken at an earlier time from that spot, with the water images with the listing ship inserted afterwards.

Even if they are looking at their child, are they supposed to have ignored the hungry cried of the child just to gawk at the sinking vessel? I think the original point is silly.

Posted by John | January 18, 2012 6:14 AM

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They're "real" but the perspective is very skewed. Here's the actual distances between things:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/images/Italian-Cruise-Ship-10.jpg

Really giant ship + zoom lense = skewed perspective.

Posted by JStrander | January 18, 2012 7:34 AM

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I'm confused as to how this photo is an indication of out of whack priorities. My understanding is that the ship is still laying in the surf and has been empty for days now. This couple probably came to gawk at the empty ship. After doing so, they then took a seat on the bench and tended to their young child for a minute. Why is this such horrible thing?

Posted by Huh? | January 19, 2012 11:19 AM

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