More doctored photos, this time from NYC mayoral candidate Virginia Fields

Once again, people, don't do this.

Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields held an emergency news conference Wednesday to control the damage wrought by revelations her mayoral campaign had doctored a photo in a multicultural campaign flier to include two unknown Asian nonsupporters.

The composite photo, first reported in the New York Press last week, shows the Manhattan Borough president at a news conference standing beside several people, including an Asian man and woman -- selected by Fields' ironically named direct mail company, Winning Directions.

Last fall, it was NJ gubernatorial candidate Bret Schundler.

(Hat tip to LoneWacko.com for the image.)

From the point of view of a graphic designer, a thought from blogger "Mr. Furious":

As I said, this is what I do for a living. I've worked in agencies. I've done hundreds of magazine covers and ads. I've often had to come up with artwork basically out of thin air. I'm sure at times I've cut corners, but never like this. Big agencies working on big campaigns (political or otherwise) have the budgets to pay for shoots, and/or an obligation to obtain proper permission and give credit to photographers. These were created for wide release and for clients with plenty to lose. It might sound like, to some, that these politicians are throwing somebody else under the bus. They are, and that's fine, because I hold the agency responsible.

Elsewhere:
Photoshop News: Old Collage Try Fails
Slant Point: "...if the Fields campaign had any intelligence, they'd simply follow Madison Avenue and hire the right colorful actors to all appear in the same shot. The end result is the same - forced diversity - but at least you'd avoid the fallout from photo fixing."
Politicker: "The Politicker's only question is whether, if you're going to swing the axe, it might have made more sense to send this statement out two days ago, and forgo that weird press conference."
VirginiaFields.com (criticism site): "The first version shows two white individuals appearing to stare off into space. The second version (subject of Photogate), shows two Asians also appearing to stare off into space. Question is, who are those two whites, and did they also not endorse Fields?"