This collection of images featured in the UK Daily Mail contains a fascinating look at how politicians and military leaders throughout history have produced doctored images to make themselves look more “heroic,” erase political enemies, and hide evidence of malfeasance. Notably, the list of culprits extends beyond the usual suspects of Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini. Other beneficiaries of selective photo editing from the days before photoshop include U.S. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Civil War general William T. Sherman. Those edited out include not only “disappeared” Soviets who fell from favor with the Kremlin, but a borrowed clip-art body of John C. Calhoun and a carefully deleted King George V from fear that his presence might overshadow others in the photo.
For all their differences an unsurprising common theme characterizes the collection. Each of these pre-photoshop edits was done with the intent of propping up the state.
Note: The images are from Four and Six. Their website has an extensive archive of dozens of doctored photos (before and after Photoshop) and the stories behind them.
