Introduction

  A camera is said to tell “no lies”, yet nowadays there is software available with potential to create information that never existed, or to remove information that once existed, or simply to touch up on flaw’s we would rather not see or remember. Do we still agree with the statement? Editing software originally begun as a tool for producing effective advertising, or simply for editing personal photo’s. However it has received extended use to a much greater extent politically, controversially, and comically, whilst not always in righteousness.

The first ever use of photographs date back centuries, and not until the early 1960’s have we been able to shoot photo’s that capture color. Using basic photoshop skills we are able to combine the two and make a single photograph black and white, yet leave some color in the photograph by using a saturation layer. (Examples below)

 

Used a desaturation layer for the image, yet left the lava lamp in full color

 

 

Used a desaturation layer to dull out the sky and land, and used an illumination filter to create an eyecatching glow on the water

My Very Own Personal Hoax’s

 

Like so many others I am impressed by images and manipulations which blur our perspective on realism. Using simple photoshop skills you can make all sorts of weird and wonderful creations. For example I may take two identical photos, splice them together and have two of myself in the one picture. Impossible? According to the laws of science it is impossible for me to be in any two places at the one time. Photo manipulation ignores this, and allows me to produce what’s seen below..

 

We don't exactly get along...

 

 

Has there ever been a human born with two heads? We’ve all heard of Siamese twins, we’ve heard of limbless new borns, we’ve heard of dwarfism, you name it! I’m sure a man with two torso’s must have come up at some point?!

 

"Life is tough, but working together makes my (our) life possible"

 

My most recent image, used with photoshop, to merge super hero characteristics with my own self

Click here!!!!

The 9/11 Tourist Parodies

Okay so you’ve seen a few of my “Kill some time make a crazy looking photo” photos, however there have been photographic hoaxes used to a much greater extent that have created enormous speculation around the world. Below is a photograph of a man standing on top of one of the twin towers on the date of 9/11 in his “seemingly” final moments. It seems to capture everything, the plane was skillfully cropped and placed in the photo. The photo even shows the correct actual flight path of the plane as it veers left of the River.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourist_Guy Author: Peter (Last name with held)

However as one would imagine, questions started to arise. “How on earth could the camera have survived the destruction?” “How could the man or the camera man not hear the plane approaching”? Eventually the creater of the image came forward and claimed the image as a hoax, and was originally created and sent to a friend as a joke. Amazingly this “joke” aka photoshop hoax became a widely speculated emotional touch stone for those who suffered from the aftermath of 9/11. This tourist in the beanie not only showed up on the top of the world trade center, he started popping up everywhere!

That "unlucky tourist" also featured in the blockbuster hit "Speed"

He also witnessed JFK's assaination

By god he's even been in his final moments twice, this time in the hands of a roaring godzilla!

After the image was recognised as being a hoax, immidiately parodies started arising! People just wanted to be creative in taking a widely speculated image and editiing it further to add further element of humor. This idea of mass circulation of virals to get recognition over the world wide web has also become a huge online business.

UFO Hoax’s

Outer space and whether we’re alone in the universe is a questoin which as plauged as for centuries. The things we often find most intriguing are things we cannot see, or feel or touch, or things that have not yet been proven to exist. Many people have claimed to have spotted UFO’s, many people try to create false photographic evidence to claim that they saw a UFO. Below is the basic process involved in shooting an object to represent a UFO, using a greenscreen and then cutting out the object and placing it on a background

Flying saucer photographed against a green screen

Flying saucer cut out and places on a background

Manipulating History

Image manipulation is becoming a popular tool in a political sense. Images / Video / Media are what we often rely on to understand and come to terms with things we can’t experience first hand. We can’t get to know our national leaders in person, and we are often left to rely on the media to depict them for us.

 

George Bush standing before his troops... at least for history's sake...

Other instances in the past have occured where photo manipulation has been used to create a greater or a more effective message to its viewers…