Digitally created Abe Lincoln photos seem not so honest

Paducah hosts postcard exhibit The Lincoln bicentennial was bound to produce a few bizarre souvenirs. This one takes the award for insensitivity. Studio Macbeth, which does 3-D visualizations for advertiser and science illustration, has misplaced truth in history and missed the line between history and art. Macbeth of Kingston, N.Y., has produced "new" photos of Abraham Lincoln in what it calls "the first time an historic figure has been re-created digitally with photographic results that now make possible an unlimited library of images." They're talking videos. Such manufactured history often trumps "real" history and provides lingering false images, like Davey Crockett's coonskin cap. It is part of the fascinating but disturbing potential for digital imagery to lie and lie and lie. We journalists may be overly sensitive... [read full story]