Techniques of
Photo Fakery
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.
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.
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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
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
Category: Death
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The first fake photo ever created: Hippolyte Bayard pretending to be a suicide victim. ...»
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Interior of the Secundra Bagh (March or April 1858)
Human bones were disinterred and scattered around to recreate the aftermath of a battle. ...» |
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Mumler’s Spirit Photos (1861-1879)
William Mumler created the genre of the spirit photo: ghostly images supposedly caught on film. ...» |
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A Sharpshooter’s Last Sleep (Taken in 1863. Exposed as a fake in 1961.)
Civil War photographers used a corpse as a movable prop. ...» |
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The Martyr Lincoln (late 1860s)
One of many fake death photos of President Lincoln. ...» |
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Ocean Execution (December 1913)
A vacation snapshot was creatively recaptioned to become evidence of a brutal execution scene. ...» |
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Ada Emma Deane’s Armistice Day Series (November 1924)
Spiritualists claimed this image showed the spirits of dead war heroes. A newspaper identified the faces as living football players. ...» |
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Death in the Air (Published in 1933; debunked in 1984.)
Spectacular images of World War I dog fights were eventually exposed as photos of model airplanes. ...» |
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The Falling Soldier (September 5, 1936)
Despite allegations that Robert Capa staged this famous war photo, historical research shows that he did not. ...» |
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The Missing Pole (May 4, 1970)
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. ...» |
All text Copyright © 2011 by Alex Boese, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.