Techniques of Fakery
There are six basic techniques of faking a photo, none of which are mutually exclusive.

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, one can adjust the color, resize details, or rotate or move details.

4: falsifying the caption. (In a sense, every fake photo has been falsely captioned.)

5: Staging the scene. This is considered fakery particularly when it occurs 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.


Themes


Time Periods
hoax photo database

Category: Composite Images
--Return to front page of thumbnail gallery--

Hanoi John
Fake (composite)
Circulating online since Feb 2004



Manitoba Home Security
Fake (composite)
Found online in 2003



British Soldier in Basra
Fake (composite)
Created March 29, 2003.



Tourist Guy
Fake (composite)
Circulating online since September 2001.



Helicopter Shark
Fake (composite)
Circulating online since Aug 2001



Cut-and-Paste Diversity
Fake (composite)
September 2000



The Tip of the Iceberg
Fake (composite and often a false caption)
Created in 1999. Circulating online since 2001.



Tootsie Redressed
Fake (composite)
Mar 1997 issue of Los Angeles magazine



Fire on Ice
Fake (composite)
Feb 16, 1994



White Hot Mama
Fake (composite)
July 1992



Oprah’s Head Transplant
Fake (composite)
August 26, 1989



Dr. Schweitzer in the Congo
Composite image
1954



The Tydings Affair
Fake (composite)
1950



Lung-Powered Flying Machine
April Fool's joke
April 1, 1934



Wisconsin’s Capitol Collapses
April Fool's Day joke
April 1, 1933


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