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: False Caption
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“Not What You Want To See”
Fake (composite and false caption)
Circulating online since early 2008



Charlton Heston’s Home Gun Collection
Real pictures, false caption
Circulating online since Apr 2008



Home Computer of the Future
Fake (intended as a joke)
First posted online September 11, 2004



Camel Spiders in Iraq
Real picture, false caption
Found online, Spring 2004



Trophy Turkey
Real but arguably misleading (captions omitted relevant details)
Thanksgiving 2003



Shuttle Columbia Explosion Photos
Falsely captioned movie screenshots
Circulating online since 2003



Chicken McNoggin
Real (sometimes circulates with false caption)
Circulating online since late 2000



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



Thoughtography
Falsely claimed to be paranormal in origin
Gained notoriety in 1967



Miss Perfect Profile
Falsely captioned
ca. 1950



The Master Race
False caption
May 8, 1943



The Nazi Air Marker Hoax
Real pictures, falsely captioned
August 10, 1942



Baby Adolf
Fake (altered in darkroom)
Late 1933



The Nest of a Fatu-Liva
Satirical false caption
1921



Stotham, Massachusetts: The Town That Didn’t Exist
Real pictures, falsely captioned
Published in April 1920


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