A Picture is Worth...

There is a theory in physics that posits that the presence of an observer influences the outcome of an action. In fact, the observer influences the action itself..
Now, this idea was come up with while dealing with sub-atomic particles.
But it has been held by some that the presence of an observer influences the actions of the actors (this meaning those performing the act and not that awful class of entertainers known as "actors"). In other words, if a person is about to key a car and sees someone watching him before the key is laid on the paint, that person will likely not key the car. On the other hand, if a person is angry for a reason, the presence of another person will turn the anger to outrage.
There is the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. This writer has held, at least since the invention of the modification of photographs, that a picture is really not worth not much.
Consider this:
The reader sees a photograph of a close up of a woman screaming. The question is, why is she screaming? Is she screaming from grief or terror? Is she screaming from pain? Or is she screaming because she's on a roller coaster? Because she's joyful because she just saw her sailor husband on the deck of a ship arriving home after a twelve month deployment in the Persian Gulf? Maybe she's not even screaming. Maybe she's laughing. Or perhaps she's screaming because she thinks that the photographer expects her to scream.
The photographic art in journalism is tricky. Free lancers have to sell photos, and they can't sell photos if they don't have interesting photos. And people with a bitch are more than willing to act out for a photographer than they would for the neighbors.
This photographer exposes the whole deal:
An Eye-Opening Look at How Many Conflict Photos Are Staged