HOLIDAY GAG GIFTS
Everything from the popular Farting Santa to fake Lottery Ticket stocking stuffers.

Techniques of Fakery
There are six basic techniques of faking a photo, none of which are mutually exclusive.

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, one can adjust the color, resize details, or rotate or move details.

4: falsifying the caption. (In a sense, every fake photo has been falsely captioned.)

5: Staging the scene. This is considered fakery particularly when it occurs 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.


Categories


hoax photo database

The Hoax Photo Database catalogs examples of photo fakery throughout the history of photography, from 1840 to the present. 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. The images are listed in chronological order. They are categorized by theme, technique of fakery, and time period. Click on a thumbnail for more details. Other Viewing Options: Full Text Mode.
1840-1900 | 1900-1919 | 1920-1939 | 1940-1959 | 1960-1979 | 1980-1999 | 2000-2004 | 2005-Present

(Return to front page of database)

The French Dinner
Fake (composite)
July 2007



Vote for Dean Hrbacek
Fake (composite)
January 2008



Barack Obama Smoking
Fake (composite)
Circulating online since early 2008



“Not What You Want To See”
Fake (composite and false caption)
Circulating online since early 2008



Hand with no thumb
Fake (composite)
Found on the internet, June 2008



Sarah Palin in Miniskirt
Fake (composite)
Found online, Aug 2008



Palin in Bikini with Rifle
Fake (composite)
September 2008



U.S. Army Releases Doctored Photographs
Fake (composite)
September 2008



The Fake General Dunwoody
Altered background and face
November 2008


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