Taking a photograph hasn't always been as easy as pulling out your smartphone and letting portrait mode do the rest. In the past, cameras required setup, and were difficult to move around. That made following the action difficult, especially during war, and it's understandable that many photographers decided to make their own perfect moments instead of waiting for one to come along.
Here are 20 famous historical photos that were actually staged, or posed at the very least.
1
The iconic photo of workers eating lunch on top of the Empire State Building was a staged publicity stunt to promote the construction of the Rockefeller Center.
2
This shocking photo of a crashing German World War I plane is actually just a model. Most World War I dogfighting photos were faked.
3
Many believe that pioneer war photographer Roger Fenton actually placed those cannonballs on the road.
4
This famous image of General Ulysses S. Grant is actually a composite of three photos, only one of which includes the future president.
5
“V-J Day in Times Square” by Alfred Eisenstaedt was not a candid moment.
6
These British infantrymen were nowhere near No Man’s Land when this photo was taken.
7
Jo Rosenthal’s iconic photo of the raising of the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi was real, however, it was a reenactment of what had happened hours earlier.
8
This photo from a Marine named Louis Lowery shows the real thing, only it looks much less dramatic.
9
The staged photo of the milkman during the Blitz. Taken by Fred Morley on October 9, 1940.
10
A boy sits amid the ruins of a London bookshop following an air raid on October 8, 1940, reading a book titled “The History of London.”
11
The staged photo that sensationalized the riot at the Gypsy Tour motorcycle rally and helped inspire the movie "The Wild One," Hollister, California, July 4, 1947.
12
Military photographer Yevgeny Khaldei wanted to create the Soviet version of the American Iwo Jima photo. This photo of a Red Army soldier waving the Soviet banner from the bombed out ruins of Berlin’s Reichstag was staged, with parts added later as well.
13
Many soldiers in this 2004 photo of George Bush were digitally added.
14
Lebanese photographer Adnan Hajj digitally enhanced smoke in this photo of Israeli air strikes on Beirut in 2006.
15
This photo of a 2013 North Korean military exercise is digitally enhanced to make the force look larger.
16
“Migrant Mother” by Dorothea Lange, 1936.
17
This famous Neil Armstrong moon landing photo was not candid, but instead carefully constructed to show the landing module in his visor.
