fauxtography

English

Etymology

Coined by webloggers around the time of the July 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War in Lebanon in criticism of the manipulated images of the conflict published by journalistic outlets: blend of faux and photography; compare fauxtograph. (This term is attested prior to July 2006, chiefly in use for company names, without an established meaning, and probably coined independently.)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: fōtŏʹgrəfi, IPA^(key): [foːˈtɒɡɹəfi], /fəʊˈtɒɡɹəfi/
• (US) enPR: fōtŏʹgrəfi, IPA^(key): [foːˈtɑɡɹəfi], /fəʊˈtɑɡɹəfi/
• Rhymes: -ɒɡɹəfi

Noun

fauxtography (uncountable)

1. (chiefly Internet) Misleading presentation of images for propagandistic or otherwise ulterior purposes, involving staging, deceptive modification, and/or the addition or omission of significant context.
   • 2006, The New Atlantis, numbers 12-14, Washington, D.C.: Ethics and Public Policy Center, page 146:

     Also, fauxtography, coined by bloggers writing about the Israel–Lebanon conflict in summer 2006 to describe both the deceptive modification of pictures by newswire photojournalists and the intentional staging of tragic scenes for propagandistic photos in the media.

   • 2007 November 5, Aaron Peckham, Mo’ Urban Dictionary: Ridonkulous Street Slang Defined, Andrews McMeel Publishing, →ISBN, page 103, →ISBN:

     Various bloggers have uncovered several cases of fauxtography in Reuters’ photo coverage of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict.

   • 2007 November 28, Cynthia Baron, Adobe Photoshop Forensics: Sleuths, Truths, and Fauxtography, main title (illustrated edition; Course Technology Printer; →ISBN, 9781598634051):

     Adobe Photoshop Forensics: Sleuths, Truths, and Fauxtography

   • 2008, David D. Perlmutter, Blogwars, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page xiii, →ISBN:

     Bloggers noted that when, in February 2005, California’s Barbara Boxer gave a speech on the floor of the Senate, she held in her hands notes that were a printout from BradDeLong.com, the eponymous blog by a professor of economics at UC, Berkeley. Conversely, mainstream photojournalism was shaken to its core by right-wing bloggers who pointed out errors, malfeasance, inconsistencies, miscaptions, and outright fakery in press “fauxtography” from the 2006 Israel–Lebanon war.

Related terms

• fauxtograph
• fauxlography

References

• “fauxtography” listed in Mo’ Urban Dictionary: Ridonkulous Street Slang Defined by Aaron Peckham (2007; Andrews McMeel Publishing; →ISBN, 9780740768750):
  fauxtography
  Staged, doctored, or misleadingly cropped or labelled photographs.