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: Striking a Pose
Madonna’s Gapless Glamour (December 1990)
Madonna got mad when she discovered a photo editor had digitally closed the gap between her front teeth. ...»
Missing in Action (July, 1991)
The Pentagon concluded that the men in this photo were not American fliers missing in action in Vietnam. Instead, they were Soviet farmers. ...»
White Hot Mama (July 1992)
Texas Governor Ann Richards' head was pasted onto the body of a model to create this magazine cover. ...»
The Disappearing Nipples (Jan/Feb 1994)
The editors of American Photo decided they had to digitally remove Kate Moss's nipples from this cover photo "as a matter of taste." ...»
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. ...»
Tootsie Redressed (Mar 1997 issue of Los Angeles magazine)
Dustin Hoffman sued Los Angeles magazine for $5 million on account of this photo of his head pasted onto the body of a model wearing a silk gown. ...»
Snowball the Monster Cat (Circulating online since early 2000)
Cordell Hauglie never anticipated that this picture of him holding a digitally enlarged version of his family cat would become one of the most popular images on the internet. ...»
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. ...»
Mid-Island Fish (July 29, 2002.)
This ad was supposed to express support for Long Island, New York businesses, but viewers noticed it showed a Seattle fishmarket. ...»
Kate Winslet’s Legs (February 2003)
Kate Winslet complained that photo editors made her look too skinny on this GQ cover. ...»
The fashion designer never actually included a SARS mask in any of its collections. ...»
Migrant Mother Makeover (April 2005 issue of Popular Photography)
Popular Photography's readers were outraged when the magazine ran a feature on how Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother photo could be improved. ...»
Unable to gather for a photo shoot, the Spanish royal family instead digitally assembled for its Christmas holiday photo. ...»
Katie Couric Slimmed Down (September 2006)
A digitally slimmed down version of Katie Couric appeared in CBS's Watch magazine. ...»
Vote for Dean Hrbacek (January 2008)
In this flyer distributed by Hrbacek's campaign, the candidate's head was pasted onto the body of a significantly slimmer man. ...»
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All text Copyright © 2011 by Alex Boese, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.