CHAPTER 80: CHAPTER 81: WINDS AND CLOUDS SURGING

In today’s photography world, incidents of photo manipulation happen occasionally, such as staging shots as candid captures, presenting post-composited computer images as natural photographs, excessive photo retouching, fabricating stories behind pictures...

Such phenomena make those who truly care about photography deeply despise it.

Taking advantage of this incident, many photographers have raised doubts on Weibo, with Su Xingqi’s glance-over-the-shoulder photo attached. If it was just one or two photographers, people might not pay much attention, but this time there are a lot of doubts, and the clamor is quite significant; it even includes renowned experts, making it hard not to attract attention.

Many people are discussing: "What’s going on? Why are photography masters like Jian Bing and Qi Zichu suddenly focusing on a regional street photography competition? The photo displayed was taken by Lin Luna, a well-known commercial portrait photographer, and I’ve never heard she had enmity with Jian Bing and Qi Zichu?"

"It’s not about enmity, it’s about the manipulation that has stirred public outrage, right?"

"They’re still just questioning it; there’s no evidence to show that the photo was manipulated."

"True, it is quite strange. Even when there’s doubt in the past, it never gets this big. After all, everyone rolls in the same circle, familiar faces everywhere, who would attack fellow professionals to the core without evidence?"

The bystanders are all eagerly watching the development.

Su Xingqi also saw the suspicions and was very angry, so she went to find Lin Luna: "Didn’t you say staging wasn’t a problem? Why are there so many people jumping out to scold? How bad are your relationships in the photography circle, can’t they speak for you?"

Lin Luna was very wronged: "This is illogical."

Su Xingqi: "I don’t care if it’s logical or not, in any case, you need to resolve this! If they find out it’s staged, it won’t only tarnish your reputation but also affect my credibility as a model! You can’t screw me over!"

Lin Luna got unhappy: "Qiqi, figure this out, you were the one insisting on staging at the start, otherwise I wouldn’t have taken this risk! I am not from S City; this street photography contest is meaningless to me. I gave in to your persistent begging and flew over from another city specifically to help you with the shoot! Now, who’s screwing over whom?"

Su Xingqi furiously: "Now you want to shirk responsibility!"

Lin Luna regretted jumping on the pirate ship, but at this point, fighting won’t fix it. Winning the prize is secondary, the key is not getting caught staging, or her reputation as a photographer will be damaged, affecting her industry image!

She sighed: "Let’s think of a solution together."

"What solution might there be?" Su Xingqi said irritably, pacing back and forth several times in Lin Luna’s equipment-filled workspace in red high heels before her eyes suddenly gleamed, "Got it! Last time, buying internet trolls worked well, accusing Su Xingyu of nitpicking out of jealousy! Look, she’s now out of the top 10! Let’s hire some trolls again, claiming it’s still Su Xingyu’s scheme, telling everyone not to believe it!"

Lin Luna felt this was absurd, thinking the girl was dim-witted?

Last time, people believed Su Xingyu was jealous due to the absence of renowned photography experts standing out, but this time? So many reputable experts stood out; who would believe Su Xingyu could bribe all those people at once?

She hurriedly stopped Su Xingqi from doing something silly, gritting her teeth: "If worst comes to worst, watch and wait; after all, without evidence, let them talk, it’ll eventually pass. If they go overboard, we can play the victim, garner sympathy, saying those masters flaunt age and bully us! As long as they don’t hold hard evidence, everything is manageable!"

This sentence was like a stabilizing pill to Su Xingqi.

Indeed, nobody had evidence! No one saw when it was staged, no matter how many masters, what power do they hold!

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Su Xingqi’s carefully made-up face: "Exactly, let’s see."

She didn’t hire the trolls anymore, instead, mimicking Lin Luna, she issued a statement on Weibo, insisting that her small path glance photo was indeed a candid capture, urging everyone not to speculatively guess and follow the crowd.

She isn’t considered off the hot list, and once her remarks were out, she received support from quite many fans.

Su Xingqi smiled smugly, see, not everyone was against her!

But her smile didn’t last many days as she could no longer laugh.

The situation worsened.

Photographers collectively appealed to the Blade Group, requesting them to thoroughly investigate the photo, restore fairness to the competition. "If Lin Luna and Su Xingqi are innocent, investigating could clear their suspicions, enhancing trust in the competition. If not, justice should be served to those unjustly squeezed out of the top ten!"

The last sentence hinted at Su Xingyu.

Given Su Xingyu’s photography level with "In the Rain," she definitely shouldn’t rank out of the top ten; it’s because she got embroiled in this dispute, malicious trolling stirred public emotion, causing negative voting, resulting in her ranking plummet. Many photographers stood for her, not only because of her talent but because she’s "Weekend." On that famous domestic photography forum, they’ve known "Weekend" ID for many years, often exchanging skills, discussing photography knowledge; she’s their goddess, old friend, they couldn’t bear seeing her suffer unfair injustice.

Su Xingyu was very touched, watching the increasingly influential protest movement, her eyes getting misty.

A so-called friend doesn’t mind being thousands of miles apart, age difference, or having never met...

They are of like minds, they’ve connected spiritually for a long time, they’ll lend a hand when facing difficulties...

They are her, and she is them.

She sat dazed, staring blankly at the laptop on the living room sofa, occasionally smiling foolishly.

The door opened, and Lu Shifeng walked in dusty and weary.

She was startled, looked up at him: "Lu Shifeng." Instinctively, she set aside the laptop and stood up, walked over to help him take off his suit jacket. She felt great today, even helping take off his jacket was accompanied by an inadvertent smile on her face.

Lu Shifeng’s mood was not particularly good, staring at her with his narrow and deep eyes: "Are you very happy?"

"Yes." She hadn’t noticed his unusualness, speaking while helping hang his jacket, "Many friends in the photography community are helping me, hoping the organizers thoroughly investigate the photo manipulation. Once Lin Luna and Su Xingqi’s fabrication is revealed, I should still have hope." Her current ranking is fourteenth; if Su Xingqi’s photo is withdrawn, and netizens stop attacking her, her chances of returning to the top ten and entering the finals are quite promising.