The Last Photo
MADELEINE’S OFFICIAL “LAST PHOTO”
On Thursday May 3, 2007 at 2:29pm, Kate McCann took a photo of husband Gerry and daughters Amelie and Madeleine. On the first version of the official Find Madeleine website we were told:
Gerry and Kate McCann have released the last photograph of their daughter before her abduction in the Algarve three weeks ago.
The picture is of Madeleine sitting by the swimming pool on the day she was snatched from her bed.
Kate took the photo of Madeleine at 2.29pm on May 3 – Mrs McCann’s camera clock is one hour out so the display reads 1.29pm. Less than eight hours later, before 10pm that night, Madeleine disappeared.
There are several observations one may deduce from this information:
- The parents say Madeleine was snatched from her bed before 10pm.
- Was Kate standing in the pool when she took the photo, or using zoom and standing on the other side of the pool?
- The McCanns emphasise the fact that this photo was taken at 2:29pm and also tell us that Mrs. McCann’s camera clock was one hour out with (presumably) the date stamp on the digital photo being 1:29pm.
Another mystery concerns the release of this photograph. Why release it three weeks after Madeleine disappeared? Many older photographs were released into the public domain before this one – perhaps the most important photo of all. Why the delay? Could it be because this “last photo” is a forgery? Do the McCanns want us to believe Madeleine was alive at 2:29pm for a specific reason?
This cropped version of Madeleine suggests an image resolution from the camera of at least 1600×1200 pixels.
Is she wearing a bathing costume? Assuming Madeleine left the pool shortly after this time, isn’t she bone dry?
The “Last Photo” is shown above and to the right. The photo at the right is a popular crop from the main photo. Various versions of this photo have appeared in the media but these are the two most popular versions.
FIRST MENTION OF A FORGERY
A detailed analysis of the photo in relation to it being a forgery first appeared in the Daily Mirror Forum.
The first Daily Mirror Forum with a Madeleine McCann section was terminated at the end of 2007 due to disruption. However, the original article was saved and is available on this site (here).
The focus of attention on this rather long and technical analysis is the sun and shadows which are used to estimate the real time of day when the photos was probably taken. A lot of hard work has gone into the analysis but this site is more concerned with looking at how such a forgery may have actually been done. If at all!
PHOTO FACTS
Looking at the last photo reveals several clues without resorting to technical analysis of shadow length and sun positions. Assuming the photo is a forgery, these are good reasons for it:
1. The composition of the photograph is bad. Most people centre the subject and are pretty good at doing so with a modern digital camera because you see a preview in the viewing screen. Madeleine looks off-centred in this respect.
2. Madeleine is clearly distracted at something funny off to her left. Amelie is disinterested in the distraction and Gerry is firmly looking at Kate as she takes the photo.
3. There are no overlapping features on Madeleine. Her body, arms, hair, and hat are all overlaid on the background. This makes it easy to “paste in” Madeleine with a software package like Photoshop.
4. Madeleine does not look to be wearing swim-wear. Kate is probably in the water and that would suggest the children were also in the mood to swim. Neither child nor Gerry look wet. Isn’t it odd to take a photo from within the water?
5. Amelie’s twin brother Sean is absent from the photo. For a family image, why exclude Sean? If Sean was making Madeleine laugh then why not pan round and included him so all 4 family members are in the shot?
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