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
Real (but suspected of being fake)
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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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Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima (February 23, 1945)
This is probably the most famous photo from World War II. It was not staged, despite persistent rumors to the contrary. ...» |
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Sinking Bus (March 3, 1988)
This double-decker bus actually did fall into a hole in the road. The photo was not staged or digitally created. ...» |
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Chicken McNoggin (Circulating online since late 2000)
This news photo shows a fried chicken head that really was found in a box of McDonald's Mighty Wings. ...» |
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Pike Swallows Trout (Jan 22, 2001)
This award-winning photo was taken at the Alaska Department of Fish & Game aquarium in Anchorage. It was not photoshopped! ...» |
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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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Camel Spiders in Iraq (Found online, Spring 2004)
It's true that camel spiders are very large, but much of the information about these creatures that accompanied this picture as it went around the internet was false. ...» |
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Cruise vs. von Stauffenberg (Controversy from June 2008)
United Artists was mistakenly accused of altering an image of German officer Claus von Stauffenberg to make him appear to resemble Tom Cruise. ...» |
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Jumping Shark (July 3, 2008)
A photographer happened to take this series of photos just as a shark was leaping from the water behind a surfer. ...» |
All text Copyright © 2011 by Alex Boese, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.