The lotus blossoms were digitally inserted into this image by a graphic artist
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on March 19, 2021 at 10:10
- 2 min read
- By AFP Sri Lanka
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
The image has been shared more than 700 times since it was published on Facebook here on February 22, 2021.
The post’s caption reads: “Venice, Italy”
Other Facebook users appeared to believe the image was a genuine photograph, posting comments such as “Would love love love to go here” and “This is amazing- one of the wonders”.
The image was also published on Facebook here and here, and on Twitter here.
The posts, however, lack context.
A reverse image search found that the lotus blossoms were digitally inserted into the image, which was created by a graphic artist named Robert Jahns.
Jahns posted the image on his Instagram page here on June 22, 2020. The post’s caption reads: “Blooming canals of Venice”.
As noted on his website, Jahns is a digital artist with a “unique approach to photo manipulation” that aims to “marry people, nature and movement in ways that seem alive, yet surreal, all at once”.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the image shared in the misleading posts (L) and the image from Jahns’ Instagram (R):
The image was also published with proper attribution on Architecture & Design’s Facebook page here, on Pinterest here and is listed for sale on Lumas here.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
