Photo shared during Hurricane Sandy’s buzz. Fake or real? Credit: Ghetty Images.

As Hurricane Sandy ravaged the Northeast, extraordinary scenes of damage, destruction, devastation, and despair were broadcast all over the world. Serious damage was caused, but at the same time, social media and Photoshop enthusiasts went into high gear, as Facebook and Twitter suddenly overflowed with chilling photos of a submerged New York. Instead of spending time helping those affected by the storm, many took advantage of advanced technologies to deepen the grief and sadness already felt by millions of people.

That being said, I’ll take you through it, picture by picture, to distinguish fiction from fact, for nothing is ever truly what is seems. Below are the fake photos you’ve been seeing and the stories behind them.

Credit: Karin Markert.

Fake. This photo, aiming to show the commitment of soldiers standing on guard at the Arlington National Cemetery monument during Hurricane Sandy, was actually taken in September by photographer Karin Marker, as pointed out by The Old Guard.

 

Original photo on right – Credit: Charles Menjivar

Fake. The original photograph on the right was taken last year during a tornado warning through a tinted window by finance professional Charles Menjivar of the Wall Street Journal. The photograph on the left is a duplicated version of the original with an added effect.

 

Original photograph on right – Credit: The Day after Tomorrow

Fake. This original photograph on the right is a still from the movie The Day After Tomorrow. The fake photo on the left has the New York 1 Channel logo and other information Photoshopped onto it, probably to give the photograph a sense of legitimacy. However, this does more harm than good, for it is detrimental to the popular news channel’s image and it provides false information to the public.

 

Original photo on right – Credit: Mike Hollingshead

Fake. The fake photograph on the right is an incredible Photoshop job, and one that no doubt was time-consuming. The image on the left was adapted from the photograph on the right, which belongs to a series of images taken by Mike Hollingshead eight years ago. The almost unbelievable transformation from the original to the final product leads one to question the motives of the person who quite literally invented a photograph, and a misleading story, for the rest of the world to see. Yes, it’s beautiful, but it’s also quite frightening. It seems that it would worry a majority of New Yorkers about what might become of our symbol of freedom and hope, Lady Liberty, if this photograph was real, which we were led to believe.

Fake. Yes, even fake videos, like the one above, surfaced online, purported to tell Sandy’s devastating story. But don’t worry, Ronald McDonald isn’t afloat just yet. The video above is from a 2009 art and film series.

 

Fake. This fake photo is more intricate than it appears. This image has two parts. The first is a real photograph of flooding in Brigantine, New Jersey. The next is a picture of a shark fin. The final product was made by superimposing the image of the shark fin over the one of real flooding from the hurricane, and voila!


Scroll up to the very beginning of this article. See that picture? What’s your verdict: Fact or Fiction?

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These are just some of the many photos and videos acting as impostors of real destruction caused by the wrath of the Frankenstorm, both viewed and shared by millions of people around the world. What does this say about some of our uses of technology? How does this translate to the character of our society? Why were fake images even created in the first place? For now, that’s left up to you. Comment your responses below.

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