The Hoax Photo Archive: Staged Scene

About the
Hoax Photo Archive

Images are categorized by theme, technique of fakery, and time period. Click on a thumbnail for more details about each photo. Included in the database are photos that are "real," but which have been suspected of being fake, as well as images whose veracity remains undetermined.

Techniques of
Photo Fakery

There are six basic techniques of faking a photo:

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: Taking a photo at a trick angle. The most common example of this is the use of forced perspective.

The Hoax Photo Archive
A catalog 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

The Perambulating Skull. Arthur Rothstein was accused of using a steer's skull as a movable prop in order to exaggerate drought conditions in the Great Plains. (May 1936)	The Master Race. The British Army created this picture of an unkempt German soldier as part of its propaganda efforts. (May 8, 1943)	Red Army Flag Over Reichstag. 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. (May 2, 1945)
The Kiss at City Hall. Robert Doisneau admitted in 1993 that he paid models to stage this romantic Parisian scene. (April 1, 1950)	Venusian Scoutcraft. What George Adamski claimed was a photo of a UFO looks suspiciously like a lampshade with ping pong balls glued to it. (December 13, 1952)	The Peppered Moth. The many biology textbooks that used this image did not reveal that the moths were dead and glued to the bark. (1955)
The Bluff Creek Bigfoot. Bigfoot believers claim this is a photo of that elusive North American primate. Skeptics argue it shows a person in an ape suit. (October 20, 1967)	Francis Hetling’s Victorian Waifs. These photos of Victorian-era street children turned out to be modern frauds. (1974)	Yeah Eckerd. The news photographer staged the scene by having a fan write the phrase "Yeah Eckerd" on the soles of his feet. (1981)
The Case of the Moving Pyramids. In what became the first high-profile example of digital photo manipulation, National Geographic moved the pyramids slightly closer together to fit within the frame of the cover. (February 1982)	The Lackawanna Shooter. A New York Times photographer was accused of staging this photo "like a fashion shoot." (Published Sep 20, 2002)	The Misleading Steak Premiere. A government investigation concluded there was a disparity between the amount of toppings shown in this ad, and the amount on the actual sandwich. (Late 2002)
Islamic Hostage Action-Figure Hoax. Hostage "John Adam," whose photo appeared on internet bulletin boards used by Iraqi rebels, turned out to be a Cody action-figure doll. (February 1, 2005)	“I can promise, this will never get done”. Artist Alison Jackson uses lookalikes to create images of "celebrities ostensibly caught unawares." (Created in 2005. Circulating online since 2008.)	Paper Tiger. The South China tiger in this photo, a species feared to be extinct, turned out to be a paper cutout. (October 3, 2007)
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