davidtltc Wrote:
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> So, Plain and Simple a Phraud-O-Graph is a
> photograph that is taken usually on a chartered
> train, that tends to back up to do photo run-bys
> for paying customers. What if the Train doesn't
> back up and just plows right through from point
> A to point B?
Not exactly. IMHO, Rehunn's generalized definition of a Phraud-O-Graph (below) is much better. A Phraud-O-Phreight (or Fraud-O-Freight) is the train itself – whether moving or stationary – that is often the primary subject of an attempted Phraud-O-Graph.
pd3463 Wrote:
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> I would guess the definition is simpler still.
> A photograph of a train depicting something
> other than the current situation.
Closer, but IMHO still too focused on railroads. Greg Scholl's photos of WWII-era aircraft, in settings where the crews are dressed in old uniforms and all of the automobiles, etc., in the background are of appropriate age, should also be considered attempted Phraud-O-Graphs.
rehunn Wrote:
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> Phraud-O-Graph
: noun, a sometimes less
> than obvious attempt at deception.
That's it! As Earl pointed out when he first coined the term four years ago, a perfect Phraud-O-Graph is a near impossibility. There is almost always some little thing in the background – or even on the primary subject such as a Phraud-O-Loco – that gives away the true age of the photo. See the extremely nit-picky critique of JBWX' near-perfect recent Phraud-O-Graph of ex-S.P. #18 at Laws on Willie's post at [ngdiscussion.net], for example.
Earl Wrote (four years ago, on 10/30/13):
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> When I was running charter trains way back then,
> it became obvious there were two varieties of fans
> who rode:
>
> 1. The guys who wanted the experience of riding
> the train, seeing the equipment in action and tak-
> ing in the entire event. They took pics so that they
> could remember the experience.
>
> 2. The guys who are hard core photographers who
> are out there to create the perfect "
phraud-o-graph"
> (
just made that up) where there is absolutely no dif-
> ference between the image they took and an image
> taken in 1940-whatever. That's all they're interested in.
> If they could be teleported from one run-by site to the
> next so they didn't have to mess with all that crummy
> train-riding stuff, they would be much happier.
In my
>
opinion, these guys will never win. I have yet to
>
see a pic of a modern event that does not have
>
indications of the time frame it was taken.
So there you have it, "straight from the horse's mouth" (emphases mine).
In recent years I have used Earl's term by in a formal way by capitalizing it and adding the trade-mark or registered trade-mark symbols, and also derived the terms Fraud-O-Freight® and Phraud-O-Phreight™ to describe the trains chartered and (more-or-less) meticulously prepared to represent those operated during the Golden Age* for the purpose of being the primary subjects of Phraud-O-Graphs™
IMHO, Earl's term should not be restricted to railroads, but can be applied to any photo or video attempting to portray a situation at any time other than the present, and including not just the past but the future as well. Technically, both '
The Sting' and '
Star Wars' – among many thousands of other movies I could name – could be considered Fraud-O-Films, and stills taken from either film as Phraud-O-Graphs™. I suppose it should also apply to photos taken in studios where the human subjects dress up in Victorian or Civil War era costumes, WWII uniforms, etc., for "olde tyme" portraits.
- El Abuelo Loco, Greengo y Curmudgeoño de los Locomoturas Viejos y Verdes,
aka Der DünkelOlivGrünDampfKesselMantelLiebHabender Grossväterchen
* Railroading in the Age of Steam — which had pretty much ended by 1957 on class one standard gauge railroads, and by the end of 1968 on the D&RGW narrow gauge.
Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 11/01/2017 11:15AM by Russo Loco.
