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: Planes
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Raised Runway (Undated. Possibly from the 1920s.)
An April Fool's day image shows a raised runway in a German city. ...» |
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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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Lung-Powered Flying Machine (April 1, 1934)
This April Fool's day image of a new method of flying fooled many, including the New York Times. ...» |
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A Sonic Boom (Taken in 1999. Found online in 2001.)
An unmanipulated photo of a cone of condensation forming around a Navy jet. ...» |
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Helicopter Shark (Circulating online since Aug 2001)
Despite what this photo shows, a Great White shark has never attacked a helicopter in San Francisco Bay. ...» |
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Tourist Guy (Circulating online since September 2001.)
Created by a Hungarian man as a bit of dark humor to share with his friends, this photo became one of the most widely viewed images online in the weeks after 9/11. ...» |
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Shuttle Columbia Explosion Photos (Circulating online since 2003)
Supposedly taken "from an Israeli satellite in space," these images were actually stills from the movie Armageddon. ...» |
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Fake Smoke Over Beirut (August 5, 2006)
A freelance photographer heightened the drama of this image distributed by Reuters by adding additional smoke. ...» |
All text Copyright © 2011 by Alex Boese, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.