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
Drawn-in Details
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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. ...» |
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Dickens in America (December 1867)
An early example of how a celebrity's appearance could be tidied up in the darkroom. ...» |
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Baby Adolf (Late 1933)
This fake baby photo of Adolf Hitler circulated widely during the mid-1930s. ...» |
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Red Army Flag Over Reichstag (May 2, 1945)
This photo was both staged and doctored in an attempt to create a Soviet version of the Americans' Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima image. ...» |
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Missing in Action (July, 1991)
The Pentagon concluded that the men in this photo were not American fliers missing in action in Vietnam. Instead, they were Soviet farmers. ...» |
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Mid-Island Fish (July 29, 2002.)
This ad was supposed to express support for Long Island, New York businesses, but viewers noticed it showed a Seattle fishmarket. ...» |
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Louis Vuitton Designer SARS Mask (April 2003)
The fashion designer never actually included a SARS mask in any of its collections. ...» |
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Giant Human Skeleton (Circulating online since early 2004)
Despite what this photo appears to show, archaeologists did not unearth a giant human skeleton in Saudi Arabia. ...» |
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Fetal Footprint (Circulating online since mid-2004)
The abdominal wall is too muscular and thick to actually allow a footprint to be seen with this clarity. ...» |
All text Copyright © 2011 by Alex Boese, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.