Trilogy "The Photographer-Couturier". Part III: Alibi

"I have little time," the prominent politician nervously fingered his cufflink. "I need a photo. I must be in the ballroom of the Ritz Hotel today, exactly at 20:00. I must look kind and open. It is a matter of life and death."

"I understand," the Master replied dryly. He put on his smart glasses and loaded an up-to-date 3D model of the Ritz interior into them. His studio virtually transformed: a virtual grid of columns, crystal chandeliers, and carpet runners lay over the dark curtains.

"A little to the left," commanded the Master, moving the light stand. "Imagine there is a Christmas tree to your left." He began to "stitch" the situation from the void. The Master set up tiny light sources so that glares from non-existent candles appeared in the politician's eyes. He added warm backlight simulating the glow of chandeliers. In the glasses, the illusion looked absolutely real.

"Now, the main thing," the Master took the film camera in his hands. "Any expert will call a digital snapshot a fake. Metadata can be changed. But the negative... The negative is physical evidence. The court will accept only it."

The politician stretched his lips in a rehearsed smile and raised a glass of champagne. Click.

"Done," said the Master. "No one will dig under it. I used bokeh to blur the background, but the Ritz lights are unmistakably recognizable."

The politician exhaled, shook the Master's hand, and hurried to the exit: "You saved my career."

The Master went to develop the film to give the customer the finished print and the negative. He watched the smiling politician, the glass, and the beautiful blurred lights in the background appear on the paper... And suddenly he froze.

The Master silently took a lighter and burned the negative, saving the client's life. During the shoot, his smart glasses had accidentally loaded current news in real-time and projected it into the virtual background as an interior element. Now, on the "perfect alibi," right behind the smiling politician's shoulder, a clock with the date and the headline of a breaking news release was clearly visible on a virtual screen: "Ritz Hotel burned to the ground in a gas explosion an hour ago."