[News] Photoshopping the Truth (scandalous)

There are questions regarding the church’s wealth in Russian which have recently received a lot of press due to a scandal over photographs of it’s leader wearing an enormously expensive watch. The Russian Orthodox Church seemingly had editors doctor a photograph, on their site, of the leader Patriarch Kirill I, in attempt to obscure a $30,000 watch that he has claimed to not exist. The amateur shop job extended a black sleeve where there once appeared to be a Breguet timepiece but somehow managed to forget to remove the reflection of the watch.

The church apologized for the deception calling it a “technical mistake” and restored the original photo to the site even though Patriarch Kirill himself insisted that he had never worn the watch, and that any photos showing him wearing it must have been doctored to put the watch on his wrist.

Let this be a lesson to you all. If you can afford a 30K watch, stay of craigslist and hire a proper touch up artist.

The Original Photo

A blogger’s does some photo manipulations of his own, removing Kirill and keeping the watch.

via [NewYorkTimes]