BP isn’t making any friends these days. Not only are they responsible for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, one of the worst oil spills ever, but they just got caught Photoshopping fake Deepwater Horizon photos showing off their clean up efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.
Oh BP. What a mess you’ve made of everything.
BP’s Fake Deepwater Horizon Photos
Sharp-eyed Internet users have been able to discover several doctored photographs on BP.com including one from their Houston Crisis Center control room. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that this is a prank from the hilarious @BPGlobalPR parody Twitter account. Nope, it seems to be yet another real fiasco to add to the oil spill epic. Pictures of monitors that researchers are ostensibly referencing for their hard scientific data have been, admittedly, Photoshopped for the press. If you look carefully you can see all the tiny mistakes around people’s ears or the edges of monitors.
How does BP explain the fake Photoshopped images? According to a BP spokesperson Scott Dean on Yahoo! News, one of their photographers with “benign intentions just slipped the images in.” What?! This may be the lamest damage control statement in history.
The Proof Is In The Metadata
If you look at the metadata attached to the image file, we can see that many of the images are almost a decade old. Their creation dates are 2001, but modification dates are 2010. We’re also able to see who the photographer/manipulator is: Marc Morrison.
According to Marc Morrison’s bio, he’s been a photographer for 26 years. Apparently, in those 26 years, he’s never learned how to properly use Adobe Photoshop.
Bad Photoshopping
We’re at a loss at what’s more offensive: that BP modified the photos or that the manipulations were so sloppy. Either way, both Marc Morrison and his boss should be given mops and sent to the Louisiana coastline to help mop up this mess. BTW, this isn’t the first photo that they’ve faked on BP.com with Adobe Photoshop. Here’s another one pictured below and the skeptics over at AMERICAblog are uncovering other BP images that may or may not have been altered for our viewing pleasure.
Why Did They Alter The Photos?
Why did Marc Photoshop these pictures? Apparently, the original images had emergency responders staring at blank screens while our planet’s oceans suffocate. So Marc Photoshopped images onto the inactive monitors to make sure everything looked active and bright and all scientific-y.
Oh BP. Stop dicking around with PR and get more boots on the ground to clean up your oil spill.
Photos via Washington Post, BP.com
Caroline Walker is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer and editor. She has worked in both the entertainment and the nonprofit sector. Walker holds a BA from the University of Southern California and an MA from New York University’s Gallatin School.
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