2026 SPE Annual Conference: Catalyst for Exchange
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print this pageIt's All Fake! Post-Truth, Flat Earth, and the Nikon P1000
Stephen Crompton
Thursday, March 19 - 2:00PM to 3:00PM
Atlanta 5
Ten years ago, the so-called "flat earth" movement started to gain renewed attention. While this belief dates back many centuries, the prevalence of social media and video-sharing websites facilitated the exchange of ideas, experiments, and supposed photographic evidence concerning "the global lie".
In 2018, I discovered that a public library in northwest Ohio had become the site of a monthly meetup organized by Nate Wolfe, a former church pastor who claimed he was dismissed from his position after revealing his belief in a flat earth. Emboldened by having been "Fired for Truth", Nate established a rapidly growing following on his YouTube channel of that name. He became fast friends with a fellow truth-seeker from the Cleveland area, a photographer who offers camera training to those interested in conducting their own photographic experiments using a unique Nikon camera he believes can bring reality into focus.
I documented Nate's journey over the course of the year following his firing. A year that saw his ascension within the flat earth community and culminated in his appearance as a featured speaker at the Flat Earth International Conference. Then, the pandemic hit, and the project ground to a halt.
Three years later, a chance encounter on a university campus with a vocal moon landing skeptic led to a familiar destination, and paved the way for a film: Fake.
speaker
Stephen Crompton
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