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by Vera H-C Chan

Who knew that a photographer who specializes in apes and babies could take such unflattering photos of a Republican presidential candidate?

The hot Buzz spotlight has turned on Jill Greenberg, a freelance photographer hired to photograph John McCain for The Atlantic Monthly magazine. Not content with letting the camera add the usual 10 pounds, Greenberg got the senator to stand over a strobe light to get an unflattering, shadowy disco-monster effect.

The magazine didn’t go for any of the demon shots, and opted for a regular portrait, which can be seen on its website and newsstands. So if the photos were rejected, how did the story get out? Greenberg’s dastardly deed—photographic villainy on the level of darkening O.J. Simpson but not quite as egregious as moving an entire pyramid—was found out by the New York Post. The paper didn’t have to do too much investigation: Apparently the self-confessed “hard-core Dem” blogged about her lighting techniques and had her Adobe Photoshop way with the rejects.

Among those weighing in is Jeffrey Goldberg—the magazine staff writer who penned the cover piece “The Wars of John McCain.” In the magazine’s blog, Goldberg stated he was “appalled” over the Post’s revelations, and called her doctored photographs “juvenile” and Greenberg an “indecent person who should not be working in magazine journalism.”

The condemnation hasn’t assuaged commenters on Little Green Footballs about lefty media bias. Fox News, which features the October issue cover, reports that The Atlantic’s editor James Bennet will be sending a Dear John letter—no, not that kind…a letter of apology.

Greenberg has earned infamy before: Her exhibit of tearful toddlers was a political statement on corrupt governments, but it was her technique of offering them candy then taking it away to induce tears that prompted outrage. As for her current embroilment, editor Bennet—who called the photographer’s behavior “incredibly underhanded and unprofessional”—says she’s not only going to get stiffed on payment, but she may have to deal with a lawsuit. Sounds like she’ll have to line up a lot of apes and crying babies.

Photo tampering unfortunately has been around since…well…cameras, as many sites document here, here, and a Scientific American slideshow here. By the way, the name of Greenberg’s blog: The Manipulator.