Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Do any of you know what this dark thing is "on" this woman's chest? When I blow it up it looks like a piece of leather with rivets or studs along the outside edge. But it doesn't really look like it is on her chest or even sailing through the air. I get the feeling it is an object that was optically added to this picture since there is no sign of a shadow on her coat. She doesn't seem to be reacting to "it" as much as maybe to a child in front of her, maybe her son. It's possible a child was "playing" with her and tossed it up to her. I can't make that out. It's got me puzzled.

Any of you computer wizards want to take a crack at it? The picture was up for sale so maybe someone was creating something they could make a buck on.


-1bigsteve (o:

That looks a lot like an "instant hole" from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Offhand I'd guess computer generated too, but that's about it at the moment. If it's not a CGI, I've never seen anything anywhere that even looks close to whatever that thing is. The shape does suggest small animal though...a kitten?

Thanks Doug. I feel it is probably an "add on" object. If I could see a shadow on her coat I would believe it was real, happened in real time and she is actually reacting to it, but there is no shadow at all on her. That darkish "glob" on her skin, near the right most corner of that object, must be a microphone attached to the edge of her coat. I blew the image up to 400% and there looks like studs and some other type of "edging" around it. It looks to me that it is a photo of a real object that was optically added to this photo with no effort made to add in a "shadow" on her coat. I think someone is trying to make a buck on this. The title of this photo is "What the ???"

-1bigsteve (o:

Ayup, I saw what you meant there. The lack of appropriate shadow definitely suggests something. Beyond that...I dunno.

I just noticed that there are no highlights on the object itself. With all the light on her there should be some light on it. Also I noticed that her head seems to be casting a shadow on some surface behind her, but you can see those people behind her. She may be standing against a large monitor and the people are images on the monitor. That object to her right looks like it might be a teleprompter. There is also no "blur" around the edges of the object that would indicate movement. I don't know how fast a digital lens closes. This image may have been shot through a TV camera but I doubt it. I don't see any wires it could be suspended from. Strange.


-1bigsteve (o:

I think this is supposed to be an over-sized lady's boutiniere made out of black fabric.

(There is no accounting for taste...)

I know this is gonna sound strange, but could it be something pinned to her jacket? It's almost where she would pin a flower or something.

I don't think it is pinned to her jacket, there would be signs of a shadow around it on two sides. The lack of a shadow on her jacket indicates it's not flying through the air either. I really don't think it was actually in the picture with her but was added in, maybe the camera operator added it in optically. She may have been looking into a TelePrompter at something that made her jaw drop and some clown added that dark object into the picture as a gag. I don't know but it's an interesting puzzle.

It is suppose to be a 4X6" photo. I think I'll send the photo to her and see if she remembers it and the moment the camera caught this scene.


-1bigsteve (o: