The Hoax Photo Archive

About the
Hoax Photo Archive

Images are categorized by theme, technique of fakery, and time period. Click on a thumbnail for more details about each photo. Included in the database are photos that are "real," but which have been suspected of being fake, as well as images whose veracity remains undetermined.

Techniques of
Photo Fakery

There are six basic techniques of faking a photo:

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: Taking a photo at a trick angle. The most common example of this is the use of forced perspective.

The Hoax Photo Archive
A catalog of photo fakery throughout history

Years Archived:
1840-1900 | 1900-1919 | 1920-1939 | 1940-1959 | 1960-1979 | 1980-1999 | 2000-2004 | 2005-Present

Dr. Schweitzer in the Congo. More than thirty years after its initial publication, this famous photo by W. Eugene Smith was discovered to be two photos composited together. (1954)	The Peppered Moth. The many biology textbooks that used this image did not reveal that the moths were dead and glued to the bark. (1955)	The Vanishing Belly Button. When the LA Times published this picture, it airbrushed out the model's belly button in order to "conform to regulations." (February 1964)
Oswald’s Backyard Photo. Magazines that published this photo of Lee Harvey Oswald retouched portions of it, leading to suspicions that the original image itself was fake. It was not. (Published in February 1964)	Thoughtography. Ted Serios claimed he could transfer his thoughts directly onto film. Skeptics disagreed. (Gained notoriety in 1967)	The Bluff Creek Bigfoot. Bigfoot believers claim this is a photo of that elusive North American primate. Skeptics argue it shows a person in an ape suit. (October 20, 1967)
The Missing Pole. An unknown photo editor decided to airbrush out the pole that was awkwardly situated behind Mary Ann Vecchio's head in the original version of this photo. (May 4, 1970)	Francis Hetling’s Victorian Waifs. These photos of Victorian-era street children turned out to be modern frauds. (1974)	Yeah Eckerd. The news photographer staged the scene by having a fan write the phrase "Yeah Eckerd" on the soles of his feet. (1981)
The Case of the Moving Pyramids. In what became the first high-profile example of digital photo manipulation, National Geographic moved the pyramids slightly closer together to fit within the frame of the cover. (February 1982)	Sinking Bus. This double-decker bus actually did fall into a hole in the road. The photo was not staged or digitally created. (March 3, 1988)	The Disappearing Coke Can. An editor digitally removed a Coke can from this front-page image because he felt it ruined the composition of the photo. (March 31, 1989)
Oprah’s Head Transplant. It's Oprah Winfrey's head, but it's Ann-Margret's body. (August 26, 1989)	Madonna’s Gapless Glamour. Madonna got mad when she discovered a photo editor had digitally closed the gap between her front teeth. (December 1990)	Missing in Action. The Pentagon concluded that the men in this photo were not American fliers missing in action in Vietnam. Instead, they were Soviet farmers. (July, 1991)
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