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
Staged Scene
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The first fake photo ever created: Hippolyte Bayard pretending to be a suicide victim. ...»
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The Valley of the Shadow of Death (April 23, 1855)
Cannonballs were strewn across a road to enhance the drama of this melancholy war scene. ...» |
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The chestnut, which is barely visible in the thumbnail, is suspended from a fine piece of thread. ...»
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Interior of the Secundra Bagh (March or April 1858)
Human bones were disinterred and scattered around to recreate the aftermath of a battle. ...» |
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A Sharpshooter’s Last Sleep (Taken in 1863. Exposed as a fake in 1961.)
Civil War photographers used a corpse as a movable prop. ...» |
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The Martyr Lincoln (late 1860s)
One of many fake death photos of President Lincoln. ...» |
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The Rope Trick (ca. 1888)
This model is not really sitting on a swing. ...» |
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A Bear and its Hunters (ca. 1900)
A humorous example of a staged scene. ...» |
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Pacific Sea Monster (1906)
Men in Ballard, Washington pose with a sea serpent that looks suspiciously like a log. ...» |
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The Cottingley Fairies (1917-1920)
Two young girls used paper cutouts to create a series of images of "fairies." These images are among the most famous fake photos of all time. ...» |
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Bloody Sunday, 1905 (1925)
Soviet textbooks claimed this was a photo of 1905's Bloody Sunday massacre in St. Petersburg. It was actually a reenactment of that event. ...» |
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Mother Cat Stops Traffic (July 29, 1925)
The news photographer arrived too late to capture the original scene, so he convinced the policeman to recreate it. ...» |
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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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The Surgeon’s Photo (Reportedly taken on April 19, 1934.)
This is considered to be the most famous image of the Loch Ness Monster. It actually shows a fake serpent's head attached to a toy submarine. ...» |
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Whopper Hoppers (circa 1935)
Giant grasshoppers were particularly popular subjects for tall-tale postcards during the 1930s. ...» |
All text Copyright © 2011 by Alex Boese, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.