Forensic Photoshoping

Hyrum Smith

Also there are some cases where scientists and historians create rather convincing photos where the person pre-dated or didn't actually sit for the photograph. These historians and artists use death masks, paintings, period clothing ect. to attempt to get as close as possible to a likeness. Consider this "photograph" of early Mormon leader Hyrum Smith who was the brother of church founder Joseph Smith, Jr. Hyrum's picture has photoshoped together based on some research. The problem is that I originally came across the "photo" attached to his geni.com profile there was absolutely no indication that it is a re-enactment not a real photo. Suspicious that there was an actual photo of this person I did some google searches and found the web site that discussed it in some details.

So here is the comment that I added to the photo so that others would be aware of its particular "provenance".

"... Above is a composite photographic image of Hyrum Smith based on anatomical and historical data available after years of research..." [Which means that this is not an actual photograph of Hyrum Smith] See this web page for more info:
http://www.ldsrestorations.com/hyrumr.html

--Randy

Excellent. A re-enactment has its own value -- as long as it's known as that.

I've seen how these death mask photos are made and the are very good in thier own right.
But as always a note or comment along with a link showing the ref should tell others that it was made from a death mask.
The one they did for Shakespeare was great (Discovery Channel) but they pointed out that there was no way to be sure that the death mask itself was that of Shakespeare. Yes, people counterfeit death masks too!
What a world we live in.