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
Composite Images
Petticoat Politics (May 1865)
A Northern photographer created this image of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in a dress. ...»
Lincoln’s Portrait (Late 1860s)
The head of Lincoln was pasted onto the body of Southern leader John Calhoun in order to create a heroic-style presidential portrait. ...»
Martin made a fortune selling "freak" postcards that featured midwesterners interacting with oversized animals and vegetables. ...»
In order to create this postcard of children eating a giant watermelon, photographer Alfred Stanley Johnson used wooden props. ...»
Raised Runway (Undated. Possibly from the 1920s.)
An April Fool's day image shows a raised runway in a German city. ...»
An April Fool's Day image of the Wisconsin state capitol collapsing due to an excess of gas generated by verbose debate. ...»
Lung-Powered Flying Machine (April 1, 1934)
This April Fool's day image of a new method of flying fooled many, including the New York Times. ...»
This fake picture of Senator Tydings chatting with the head of the American Communist Party may have caused Tydings to lose his campaign for reelection. ...»
More than thirty years after its initial publication, this famous photo by W. Eugene Smith was discovered to be two photos composited together. ...»
Oprah’s Head Transplant (August 26, 1989)
It's Oprah Winfrey's head, but it's Ann-Margret's body. ...»
White Hot Mama (July 1992)
Texas Governor Ann Richards' head was pasted onto the body of a model to create this magazine cover. ...»
Fire on Ice (Feb 16, 1994)
Harding and Kerrigan were seen skating together on this Newsday cover, but the scene never occurred in real life. ...»
Tootsie Redressed (Mar 1997 issue of Los Angeles magazine)
Dustin Hoffman sued Los Angeles magazine for $5 million on account of this photo of his head pasted onto the body of a model wearing a silk gown. ...»
The Tip of the Iceberg (Created in 1999. Circulating online since 2001.)
This widely circulated photo is actually a digital composite of four different images. ...»
Cut-and-Paste Diversity (September 2000)
In order to highlight their school's racial diversity, University of Wisconsin-Madison officials pasted a black student's face into this crowd scene that appeared on the cover of the undergraduate application. ...»
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All text Copyright © 2011 by Alex Boese, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.