The Museum of Hoaxes
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Techniques of
Photo Fakery
1: Inserting details. This includes placing an element from one photo into another to create a composite image, reproducing a detail of the photo by cloning it, superimposing an image onto another, or drawing-in details.

2: Deleting details. This is usually done by extending background elements over the unwanted detail. Or one can crop out the unwanted detail.

3: Manipulating elements within the photo. For instance, adjusting the color, resizing details, or rotating or moving details.

4: falsifying the caption.

5: Staging the scene. This is considered fakery particularly in photojournalism. Varieties of staging a scene include using models and cutouts and inserting a prop into the scene.

6: Trick angles. The most common example of this is the use of forced perspective.
Site Map
Photo Archive Categories
The Hoax Photo Archive
A gallery of photo fakery throughout history.

Years Archived:
1840-1900 | 1900-1919 | 1920-1939 | 1940-1959 | 1960-1979 | 1980-1999 | 2000-2004 | 2005-Present
Paris Match was accused of pandering to French President Nicolas Sarkozy when it reduced the size of his love handles in this photo of him canoeing with his son. ...»
Paper Tiger (October 3, 2007)
The South China tiger in this photo, a species feared to be extinct, turned out to be a paper cutout. ...»
Vote for Dean Hrbacek (January 2008)
In this flyer distributed by Hrbacek's campaign, the candidate's head was pasted onto the body of a significantly slimmer man. ...»
Barack Obama Smoking (Circulating online since early 2008)
Obama admits to being a smoker (trying to quit), but this picture of him smoking was faked. ...»
Charlton Heston’s Home Gun Collection (Circulating online since Apr 2008)
This series of pictures documents a remarkable gun collection, but not that of Charlton Heston. ...»
“Not What You Want To See” (Circulating online since early 2008)
Two pictures were composited together to create this dramatic scene. ...»
Hand with no thumb (Found on the internet, June 2008)
A digital composite creates the illusion of a hand with no thumb. ...»
Cruise vs. von Stauffenberg (Controversy from June 2008)
United Artists was mistakenly accused of altering an image of German officer Claus von Stauffenberg to make him appear to resemble Tom Cruise. ...»
M.C. Escher Golf (Taken Aug 18, 2006. Published June 2008)
A surreal effect of impossible geometry may have been caused by the use of a telephoto lens to take this picture. ...»
Fox Airs Faux Photos (July 2, 2008)
Fox News aired pictures of New York Times staffers that had been digitally altered to make the men appear less attractive. ...»
Jumping Shark (July 3, 2008)
A photographer happened to take this series of photos just as a shark was leaping from the water behind a surfer. ...»
The Iranian government pasted a missile into this photo, apparently in an attempt to conceal the failure of one of the missiles to launch. ...»
A Whiter Beyonce (August 2008)
Critics accused L'Oreal of lightening Beyonce's skin color in this advertisement for its cosmetics. ...»
After John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate, provocative fake pictures of the Alaska Governor began to circulate online. ...»
Lacking an official photo of a deceased soldier, the U.S. Army instead released a doctored image to the media. ...»
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All text Copyright © 2011 by Alex Boese, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.