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.
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
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: Digital Plastic Surgery
 |
Dickens in America (December 1867)
An early example of how a celebrity's appearance could be tidied up in the darkroom. ...» |
 |
Oprah’s Head Transplant (August 26, 1989)
It's Oprah Winfrey's head, but it's Ann-Margret's body. ...» |
 |
Madonna’s Gapless Glamour (December 1990)
Madonna got mad when she discovered a photo editor had digitally closed the gap between her front teeth. ...» |
 |
The Disappearing Nipples (Jan/Feb 1994)
The editors of American Photo decided they had to digitally remove Kate Moss's nipples from this cover photo "as a matter of taste." ...» |
 |
Kate Winslet’s Legs (February 2003)
Kate Winslet complained that photo editors made her look too skinny on this GQ cover. ...» |
 |
The Real Julia (July 2003)
Julia Roberts' head was pasted onto a younger version of her body. ...» |
 |
Migrant Mother Makeover (April 2005 issue of Popular Photography)
Popular Photography's readers were outraged when the magazine ran a feature on how Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother photo could be improved. ...» |
 |
Katie Couric Slimmed Down (September 2006)
A digitally slimmed down version of Katie Couric appeared in CBS's Watch magazine. ...» |
 |
Sarkozy’s Disappearing Love Handles (August 2007)
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. ...» |
 |
The Fake General Dunwoody (November 2008)
When Ann Dunwoody became the first four-star general in the American military, the Army released a doctored photo of her to the media. ...» |
All text Copyright © 2011 by Alex Boese, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.