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.
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
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
 |
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." ...» |
 |
Fire on Ice (Feb 16, 1994)
Harding and Kerrigan were seen skating together on this Newsday cover, but the scene never occurred in real life. ...» |
 |
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. ...» |
 |
The Tip of the Iceberg (Created in 1999. Circulating online since 2001.)
This widely circulated photo is actually a digital composite of four different images. ...» |
 |
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. ...» |
 |
Cut-and-Paste Diversity (September 2000)
In order to highlight their school's racial diversity, University of Wisconsin-Madison officials pasted a black student's face into this crowd scene that appeared on the cover of the undergraduate application. ...» |
 |
Chicken McNoggin (Circulating online since late 2000)
This news photo shows a fried chicken head that really was found in a box of McDonald's Mighty Wings. ...» |
 |
Pike Swallows Trout (Jan 22, 2001)
This award-winning photo was taken at the Alaska Department of Fish & Game aquarium in Anchorage. It was not photoshopped! ...» |
 |
A Sonic Boom (Taken in 1999. Found online in 2001.)
An unmanipulated photo of a cone of condensation forming around a Navy jet. ...» |
 |
Helicopter Shark (Circulating online since Aug 2001)
Despite what this photo shows, a Great White shark has never attacked a helicopter in San Francisco Bay. ...» |
 |
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. ...» |
 |
Bush Reads Book Upside-Down (Found online, September 2002.)
In the original version of this photo, President Bush's book was not upside-down. ...» |
All text Copyright © 2011 by Alex Boese, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.