aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Looting v finding

Xeni jardin at Boing Boing, Black people loot, white people find?

The images were shot by different photographers, and captioned by different photo wire services. The Associated Press caption accompanying the image with a black person says he’s just finished “looting” a grocery store. The AFP/Getty Images caption describes the white couple “finding” bread and soda from a grocery store. No stores are open to sell these goods.

Perhaps there’s more factual substantiation behind each copywriter’s choice of words than we know, but the difference in tone suggests bias.

She’s got photos and links to both images and the comparison image.

UPDATE: The photographer has posted a comment on his “whites found groceries” caption. Salon has background and details on the photos’ story.