Is this a real photo of battle from World War I?

Yes, technically this is a "real" photo from World War I. But if the composition looks a little too perfect for the middle of a battlefield, that's because it is. This photograph is actually a composite image.

An Australian photographer by the name of Frank Hurley took the photo. Or, more accurately, photos. By combining different images—in this case the swooping airplanes above and the battlefield below—Hurley created photos that failed to represent what was "actually" happening during the course of the war.

Hurley actually got into a fair bit of trouble for his images, and they remain incredibly controversial today. But he didn't just create composite images, he would also stage re-enactments and flat-out fabricate shots. Hurley defended his photographic creations, arguing that they represented the war far better than the limited technology of the time could ever capture. But nearly a century later, they're still being passed around as "real."