Altering photographs is nothing new, and using them to deceive is nearly as old. Camera lenses, even camera placement, can be used to produce images that simply are not accurate. But the Internet and digital imaging software have made it easier than ever to fool and be fooled by photography.
I used to use this image of The Great Blackout of 2003 as my screen saver, but it’s a fake, says Alex Boese in Hippo Eats Dwarf: Field Guide To Hoaxes And Other B.S. The original, "a composite image of hundreds of photos taken by Defense Department meteorological satellites," had been NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day in November 2000. "The hoaxer simply darkened the relevant portion of the photo," says Boese.
Other fake images:
This Columbia explosion image in February 2001 - taken by an Isreali satellite, ahem - is actually a still from the DVD Armageddon, according to Boese.
The Asian tsunami of December 2004, purportedly taken at Phuket, Thailand, is actually a photo of Antofagasta, Chile. The wave is a Photoshop creation.
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