As long as the 20th cenÂtuÂry remains in livÂing memÂoÂry, the assasÂsiÂnaÂtion of PresÂiÂdent John F. Kennedy will conÂtinÂue to draw pubÂlic interÂest. A great many AmerÂiÂcans feel they still haven’t heard the “whole stoÂry” behind what hapÂpened on NovemÂber 22, 1963; a few have dedÂiÂcatÂed their lives to findÂing out, growÂing less inclined to accept the posÂsiÂbilÂiÂty of a lone gunÂman the deepÂer they get into the docÂuÂments. But that gunÂman, Lee HarÂvey Oswald, does figÂure directÂly into some of the mateÂrÂiÂal held up as eviÂdence of a conÂspirÂaÂcy. Take the “backÂyard phoÂtos” that depict him posÂing with what was ultiÂmateÂly found to be the very gun used to kill JFK.
Such images would seem strongÂly to impliÂcate Oswald in the assasÂsiÂnaÂtion, and the WarÂren ComÂmisÂsion seems to have regardÂed them in just that way. But for nearÂly six decades now, some theÂoÂrists have argued that the backÂyard phoÂtos are fake — an idea that began with Oswald himÂself, who before his own assasÂsiÂnaÂtion insistÂed that he’d nevÂer seen them in his life, and that someÂone had “superÂimÂposed” his face onto anothÂer body.
The Vox video above lays out the main eleÂments of one parÂticÂuÂlar picÂture that have been called repeatÂedÂly into quesÂtion: the angles of the shadÂows, the shape of Oswald’s chin, the length of the gun, and Oswald’s unusuÂal posÂture.
“In the 1960s and 1970s, forenÂsic experts tried just about everyÂthing to test the authenÂticÂiÂty of this phoÂto,” says the video’s narÂraÂtor. They couldÂn’t find any eviÂdence of fakÂery, but they didÂn’t have the 21st-cenÂtuÂry techÂnolÂoÂgy at the comÂmand of the UC BerkeÂley School of InforÂmaÂtion’s Hany Farid, a well-known speÂcialÂist in the analyÂsis of digÂiÂtal images. Farid and a team of researchers reconÂstructÂed Oswald’s body and weaponÂry (though not the copies of The MilÂiÂtant and The WorkÂer, two ideÂoÂlogÂiÂcalÂly opposed newsÂpaÂpers, he branÂdished in his othÂer hand) and found that everyÂthing added up, from the seemÂingÂly misÂaligned shadÂows cast by the sun to the staÂbilÂiÂty of his odd stance. If there was indeed a conÂspirÂaÂcy to kill JFK, then, it wasÂn’t a conÂspirÂaÂcy of proÂto-PhoÂtoÂshopÂpers.
RelatÂed ConÂtent:
2,800 JFK AssasÂsiÂnaÂtion DocÂuÂments Just Released by the NationÂal Archives
Based in Seoul, ColÂin MarÂshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities, the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles and the video series The City in CinÂeÂma. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall or on FaceÂbook.
It’s a cropped picÂture.