People are convinced most of his photos are fake and that the person supposedly behind the camera isn’t even real
A popular Instagram account highlighting the beauty of Cornwall has been called out as fake(Image: Instagram/Screenshots)
A hugely popular Instagram account that shows off ‘too good to be true’ shots taken across Cornwall has been called out for fakery, image theft and AI-generated pictures.
The popular social media account, which has been posting for several years, has been under significant pressure in recent weeks from professionals and photographers across Cornwall after it started advertising prints of Cornwall for sale on a linked website.
This came after several photos on the page, called Cornwall In The Picture, were being praised highly for their ‘too good to be true’ nature and vivid imagery. The account, which had over 20,000 followers, has now been outed as fake by a group of professionals who don’t want people to fall victim and pay for what has been dubbed ‘AI slop’.
A series of eagle-eyed photographers noticed that some of the imagery was not possible, like certain plant growth at the wrong times of the year and the sun setting in the wrong location. In one shot, the moon is the wrong way around. In another, reflections do not exist.
In one particular shot, claimed to be of a print in situ in a customer’s home, a lit fireplace appears beneath a window. All of these images are identified as at least partially AI-generated when run through Google Gemini. Some are taken from other photographers and then edited with AI.
Taking it even further, the account then released AI-generated images of a person, supposedly called Paul, who is apparently behind the account. Yet nobody in the Cornish photography community has ever seen or heard of this person and the images were AI-edited versions of real photos – one stolen from another photographer and one a stock image – both with a new face appearing on the person for the account.
The account had more than 20,000 followers(Image: Instagram/Screenshots)
The mystery person even launched a sympathetic campaign to promote local businesses and encourage followers to shop local, which gained them new followers and raised the profile of the online shop. The account holder also started a fundraising page, which saw people donate money to supposedly help them build a new website.
It’s all come to light after a group of professionals, including photographers whose work had been stolen, set out to expose the person. One person impacted is Liam Alford of Liam Alford Photography, who had his stunning original shot of Botallack Mine stolen and edited – to add a spectacular Northern Lights display.
This image was successfully taken down under a copyright claim, but much of the account’s other shots remained up and public, also linking to a website where the fake – and in some cases stolen – pictures were being sold.
“It’s very annoying knowing someone out there is riding off your hard work,” he said.
One photo shared appeared to show a disappearing and blurry tripod end(Image: Instagram/Screenshots)
The account, which was based in Poland, has since been taken down by Meta. A Facebook account remained active and sharing images for some time after, but has now also been taken down. In one of its most recent images, people were calling out blatant inconsistencies.
Steve Pereira said: “That’s a shocking composite. You should be embarrassed…” Stargazy Photography adds: “Moon is still back to front.”
On the right is the AI-edited image shared to the Instagram page of ‘Paul’. On the left is the real photo belonging to a genuine photographer.(Image: Instagram/Screenshots)
Richard Luckman said: “Since when did the moon rise in the west,” while Kieran Brimson remarks: “Such a confusing composite. Why would the shadows be cutting across horizontally when the light source is directly behind?? So dumb…”
Truro photographer Paul Richards called one shot “just plain embarrassing” while Nigel Blake said the person behind it was “inept”. “No reflection of the oversized moon is a key error, as is the lighting direction and shadows on the foreground,” he said.
Some of the images from the page(Image: Instagram/Screenshots)
Countless others have been fooled by the imagery, praising the person behind the account and calling Cornwall a beautiful and wonderful place.
A campaigner who set up a counter-page intended to highlight the original account as fake said: “The worst thing he did was dupe 20,000 people into thinking he was a real person who cared about the community.
“He promoted local businesses in one of his posts, but really it was all for traction and new followers. His ultimate aim was to make money fraudulently. And people must have bought prints and people definitely gave money to his fundraiser. I’d be fuming if it had been me. They deserve refunds.”
A stock photo on the left compared with the AI edited image shared by Cornwall In The Picture (Image: Instagram/Screenshots)
The woman, who prefers to remain anonymous and share information on her page, Cornwall In Pictures, said she is 99 per cent sure she has identified the person behind the account as a Redruth-based businessman but wants to wait until this is definite.
“So we know who he is, we’re just collecting evidence so we can go public with the information. It would be awful if we were wrong, so we’re being careful.
“On the subject of his identity, he looks a lot like his social media identity, but much less attractive. Ah, the joys of AI.”
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