Re: Widening Earl's concept of a 'Phraud-O-Graph' . . .

Russo Loco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> . . .  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 a 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.

Just to be clear, Roosso, I wasn't criticizing JBWX – he's about as good a phraud-o-grapher as I've ever encountered.  It's just that the cars in the background didn't look right for the early-fifties configuration of the engine & caboose.  I have looked real close at John's other great photo from Laws – the one at [ngdiscussion.net] – and I can't find a durn thing about it to indicate he didn't take it with his dad's 4x5 Speed Graphic in 1952 instead of with a high-end Nikon in 2017!    

> 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™.

Now you're gettin' carried away again, like a typical wild-eyed foamer.  How in Hell are you gonna know whether an out-take from 'Lost in Space' or 'Forbidden Planet' is an accurate portrayal of the future?  IMHO, we should stick to Earl's original concept of a Phraud-O-Graph™ – a photo taken in the present day that is as impossible as possible to distinguish from one taken fifty or more years ago, in the Age of Steam.

> I suppose {Phraud-O-Graph™} 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.


Well, Roosso -

You & Rich may be right on that one.  Earl was thinking mainly of photos intended for those of us who read the NGDF, Classic Trains, etc., but Phraud-O-Graph is too useful a term to selfishly restrict it to only railroad subjects so I'll give you a pass on that last paragraph – but only if Greg Scholl concurs . . .    

- Sincerely, Willie  (Wm. Claude Johnson-Barr III, Esq.)  
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