Analyzing the “Photographic Evidence” of the Nanking Massacre

Chapter 5: Conclusion: Non Photographs CanStand as ViableHistoricalEvidenceSearch for definitive clues for photo analysisReviewing the Nanking atrocity photographs, a project of the Nanking researchassociation’s photo research team, lasted nearly three years. This undertaking requiredmore time than originally expected because the research process was stalled by the lackof definitive analytical tools to verify the authenticity of the photographs in question.The issue that often concerned the research team was that laborious analytical workwould come to naught, regardless of the amount of energy expended for this endeavor, ifthe analytical methods employed were judged to be arbitrary.An informative case that one may draw on in connection with the analytical toolissue is a controversy that arose over a photograph printed in the Los Angeles Times someyears ago. A close look at that photograph revealed that it depicted an individual twice.The LA Times initiated an investigation in response to an inquiry from a reader, and theinvestigation led the photographer to admit that he had combined two different imagesthat were photographed almost simultaneously and at the same location with his personalcomputer. As a result, the LA Times terminated employment of the photographer andposted an apology in its paper.Another example was an image of the three Japanese nationals who were takenhostage in Iraq. In that photograph, one of the three was showing a desperate gesture ofpleading for help, with his neck strangled by a captor. When a commentator examinedthe photograph, he hinted at a possibility of exaggeration by pointing to what appeared tobe a choreographed move on the hostage’s part. After their release, they more or lessadmitted to this.If there is any suspicion of fabrication or exaggeration with respect to aphotograph, as illustrated by these examples, the surest method to verify the assumptionis to contact the individual or individuals closely involved in the actual photographing.Such a procedure is considered to be the only way to determine whether or not aphotographic image truly shows a scene of alleged Japanese atrocity. The researchteam’s concern was that any other method would not prove to be absolute.The problem is, however, that there is no way to conduct such an investigationsince most of the photographs are of unknown origin—even the identity of who tookthem is not clear in most cases. Accordingly, our approach was to substitute the surestway with other means such as: to identify the source where the photograph first appeared,to compare multiple sources that carried the same photograph, to identify the locationwhere the photograph was taken by looking for other photo pieces that showed the samescene, and to consult with as many sources that recounted the events of the time aspossible. The analysis of the research team gradually became near-perfect with theadoption of such a multiple-oriented approach.Yet, the analysis of the research team was unable to solve one puzzle—a riddlethat kept the review work short of perfect in the eyes of the research team members. Asindicated many times in the preceding chapters, a number of photographs were judgednot to be evidence of alleged Japanese atrocities in Nanking because they depict scenes of231