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
Category: Photojournalism
The Disappearing Coke Can (March 31, 1989)
An editor digitally removed a Coke can from this front-page image because he felt it ruined the composition of the photo. ...»
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. ...»
O.J.‘s Darkened Mug Shot (June 27, 1994)
Time magazine was accused of racism when it decided to use a darkened version of O.J. Simpson's mugshot on its cover. ...»
The Lackawanna Shooter (Published Sep 20, 2002)
A New York Times photographer was accused of staging this photo "like a fashion shoot." ...»
British Soldier in Basra (Created March 29, 2003.)
This digital composite slipped past the editors of the LA Times and ran on the paper's front page. ...»
Trophy Turkey (Thanksgiving 2003)
Newspaper captions failed to mention that the turkey Bush was holding was a decorative centerpiece not intended for consumption by the troops. ...»
Hostage "John Adam," whose photo appeared on internet bulletin boards used by Iraqi rebels, turned out to be a Cody action-figure doll. ...»
“Qinghai-Tibet railway opens green passage for wildlife” (Published in 2006. Debunked in 2008.)
This award-winning Chinese photo appeared to show the peaceful co-existence of antelope with a new high-speed train. Unfortunately the photo was a digital composite. ...»
Fake Smoke Over Beirut (August 5, 2006)
A freelance photographer heightened the drama of this image distributed by Reuters by adding additional smoke. ...»
Katie Couric Slimmed Down (September 2006)
A digitally slimmed down version of Katie Couric appeared in CBS's Watch magazine. ...»
Giant Tomatoes (February 6, 2007)
Forced perspective makes these tomatoes look enormous. ...»
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. ...»
M.C. Escher Golf (Taken Aug 18, 2006. Published June 2008)
A surreal effect of impossible geometry may have been caused by the use of a telephoto lens to take this picture. ...»
Fox Airs Faux Photos (July 2, 2008)
Fox News aired pictures of New York Times staffers that had been digitally altered to make the men appear less attractive. ...»
The Iranian government pasted a missile into this photo, apparently in an attempt to conceal the failure of one of the missiles to launch. ...»
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All text Copyright © 2011 by Alex Boese, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.