Snapped Shot

I got an e-mail from a little soon-to-be-announced birdie, asking if I'd like to try out a new service that he's thinking of subscribing to that would allow something unspecified related to photo wire services—Which sounds fantastic to me, considering my history in the matter.

As an immediate test of this new service, here's a sighting today of some Friends of Shakeel "Islamic Rage Boy" Bhat in Srinagar—What else did you expect me to search for?—Imagine that: Rage Giant (L) and the Rage Pirate (R), both in one shot!

Jun 20, 2008 - Srinagar, Kashmir, India - Supporters of All Parties Hurriyat Conference during a protest in Srinagar. Hundreds of supporters of hurriyat alongwith party chairman syed ali shah gilani came on streets of srinagar to protest against the human rights violations and Amarnath Hindu Pilgrimage shrine board who have used some 800 Kanals land during yatra in summer capital of indian Kashmir (Something's wrong with the captions, I think. I'll update with the correct attribution when I can find it.) [Photo via Newscom]

Continue reading »

It looks like one of Islamic Rage Boy's best friends has been spotted in the news again, this time protesting against the transfer of forest land to a shrine. Here's the wire coverage, courtesy our friends at Agence France-Presse and European Press Agency:

[Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3, Photo 4, Photo 5, Photo 6]

I haven't seen any sign of Shakeel "IRB" Bhat yet, but if he shows up, you know we'll be there to cover it!

Previously: Rage Giant Sighting.

I've seen some pretty serious Islamic Rage Boy impersonators over the past year.

This guy totally takes the cake.

Totally.

He's got the stuff that legends are made of. Let's just see if he has the skill to succeed.

In the mean-time, any readers care to try their hand at naming our new rage dude? You know what to do.

Per Gudmundson, a columnist for the conservative Swedish daily SVD, writes to inform me that I missed Rage Boy in a recent Associated Press photograph. Says the good Mr. Gudmundson:

The other day Snapped Shot showed us that Islamic Rage Boy is back in the news. Seems like the wire services haven't learned s--t. Brian Ledbetter then waxed around the thought that AP maybe had learned the lesson, since only AFP featured the pictures. Well, they haven't. Rage Boy is back with a vengeance. He's not only seen at AFP - he's also featured in this picture, brought to us by AP, courtesy of photographer Dar Yasin (this Dar Yasin?). The demo, according to the text, took place two days after the previous AFP sighting, but Rage Boy still wears the same shirt. The wire services smell more, though

Thank you very much for sending that in, Per—I stand corrected! There Shakeel was, sitting right in front of my nose this whole time!

Ever since this site discovered Mr. Bhat's follies almost a year ago, he has continued to be used by the press as a symbol of anti-Western outrage for all of Kashmir. But, as many people who've written to me since then have expressed, most of Kashmir is not really all that angry.

So why do the media continue to use the expressions of one extremely small group to represent a much larger, mostly happy population?

Could it really be that our photojournalists are bending over backwards to bring "the truth" to newsreaders around the world?

Or is the industry more interested in prizes and awards?

Forest, who's a regular reader around here, pinged me over the extended weekend to say that he's spotted our old friend Shakeel "Islamic Rage Boy" Bhat in a protest. It stinks that I missed the sighting when it happened, but sure enough, Mr. Bhat has definitely been up to his regular trade, this time protesting the indignity committed by a U.S. sniper against the holy Qur'an.

From our friends over at Agence France-Presse, via ANP-Photo, we see Rage Boy in action: [Shot 1] [Shot 2]

It's interesting to note that the major wire services seem to be avoiding Shakeel now, with AP and Reuters both ignoring him completely. I'm not sure if this is editorial policy (i.e., our vaunted editorial staff are finally blocking his staged outrage from the feed), or if he's just not "in" with their stringers any longer, but it's certainly an interesting question. At least AFP (and, occasionally, EPA) continues to carry his picture.

So much anger.

And so little time.

"Yes, Ma'am. You push the RED button. Yes, that does turn it on. No, I think you should do it yourself. Yes, I know it makes noise when the button is pushed. Uh huh, that is right. That IS the power button. No, I don't think it works just the same without power. Well, sure. I guess. But, this does work MUCH better when it is on.

Yes. Yes, I know it is difficult to follow along, but Ma'am, that is what you are supposed to do on these things. I know. I know it is really hard and it makes you sweat, but, you don't want to scare your kids when you see them next year, do you??



( i chose rage boy tag as there was no rage slut sightings tag )