But even if it had been in July, that is far
from being September. The matter of the year I have also settled.
Weather conditions, I find, were favourable on all=20these dates except
that in September. I can really answer, with an assurance and
accuracy superior to that of the photographer himself - even if he
were honest - as to the real date. The real picture, aside from
being doctored, was actually taken last May. Science is not fallible,
but exact in this matter."
Kennedy had scored a palpable hit. McLaughlin and Hanford were
speechless. Still Craig hurried on.
"But, you may ask, how about the automobile picture? That also is
an unblushing fake. Of course I must prove that. In the first
place, you know that the general public has come to recognise
the distortion of a photograph as denoting speed. A picture of a
car in a race that doesn't lean is rejected - people demand to see
speed, speed, more speed even in pictures. Distortion does indeed
show speed, but that, too, can be faked.
"Hanford knows that the image is projected upside down by the lens
on the plate, and that the bottom of the picture is taken before
the top. The camera mechanism admits light, which makes the picture,
in the manner of a roller blind curtain.
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