The Man Who Can’t Be Photographed

Status: Has to be a hoax
A Chinese paper, the Dahe Daily, reports on a curious incident involving a man who can't be photographed. Ye Xiangting went to the local police station to get his photo taken for an ID card. This is what happened:

He sat in front of the camera, but no image of him would show up in the photo. The staff checked the camera very carefully, but found no problems. He retook photos of Ye Xiangting, but no photos of Ye Xiangting was found on the computer images.

But wait, it gets weirder:

They took images of Ye Xiangting with other people. They were stunned when the other people showed up in the computer images, but not Ye. Ye Xiangting seemed to have "disappeared" from the photos. In the end, the staff had to give up.

Personally, I have a different problem with ID cameras. They always seem to catch me with a stupid expression on my face. It's uncanny.

Photos

Posted on Thu Jan 12, 2006


Comments

I really wanted to see these photos that didn't contain his image. I guess it serves me right since the article has space for a photo and the caption "No Photo Available". The jokes on me I guess.
Posted by Trace  on  Thu Jan 12, 2006  at  12:23 PM
I have a thought as to why they always catch you with a stupid expression, but I'll politely refrain from mentioning it. 😉

As to this guy, he sounds very much like a "Friend of a friend" story that some newspapers thrive on. Since they've encountered two similar cases at the same station, and the person claims that he's never before been unphotographable, I'm inclined to put it down to faulty equipment and the usual embellishment these stories seem to attract.
Posted by Charybdis  on  Thu Jan 12, 2006  at  12:36 PM
Might be a prank they were pulling on the guy. I imagine they just took a picture of themselves without him and used that in order to freak him out.
Posted by Citizen Premier  on  Thu Jan 12, 2006  at  06:20 PM
Yeah, I guess I set myself up for that, Chary. 😖
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Thu Jan 12, 2006  at  11:57 PM
...Maybe he's a vampire? 🧛
Posted by Jackie  on  Fri Jan 13, 2006  at  02:56 PM
No, Jackie, I don't think he is.

Since he is Chinese, if he was a vampire, he would bounce up and down or across the countryside like a kangaroo. There's no mention of that in the article.
Posted by DFStuckey  on  Fri Jan 13, 2006  at  10:59 PM
What was the correlation between Chinese, vampires, and kangaroos?
Posted by chyca  on  Sun Jan 15, 2006  at  08:59 PM
Maybe Chuck Norris round-house slapped him into the middle of next week and the poor guy just didn't realize it
Posted by booch  on  Mon Jan 16, 2006  at  11:22 AM
chyca, in Chinese mythology, The spirits they call vampires hop around the countryside at night like kangaroos. They are perfectly harmless until disturbed by a mortal, who they turn on and will attack every night, draining more and more blood until the victim dies.

They look like Nosferatu in most depictions, as in the movie "Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires". Sorry about the obscure comments.😊
Posted by DFStuckey  on  Tue Jan 17, 2006  at  01:08 AM
Is he a ghost?
Posted by Ian  on  Mon Jan 23, 2006  at  07:58 PM
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