Insta-famous travel vlogger Amelia Liana is currently at the centre of a storm of internet controversy, after being accused of Photoshopping herself into exotic travel locations.
The most damming evidence against the British social media star so far was a photograph posted in May, purportedly showing her in New York.
The photo was supposedly taken from the Rockefeller Center, looking out over the New York skyline. However the Freedom Tower, built four years ago, is missing from the photo.
Liana deleted the picture from her Instagram account in recent days, after critics accused her of superimposing an old image of New York into the photo.
Another contentious photo shows her in front of India's Taj Mahal. However, the photo lacks the scaffolding which is currently covering one tower. People have also pointed out that Liana's shadow stops abruptly at the edge of the pond and does not stretch into the water, and that there are too many birds in the sky and too few tourists in the crowd.
Other disgruntled fans have complained over her numerous ice cream photos. In one snap, the star is holding an immaculate, unmelted ice cream in a distinctive fish-shaped cone from a well-known New York store.
"How is this possible?" complains one fan. "That ice cream place is nowhere near where you "took that pic"."
In her defence, Liana spoke to UK publication The Times, saying, "I would never cheat on [my fans] by putting myself in a picture where I wasn't in a natural location...[I] always remain faithful to my followers by taking my pictures in real locations."
She also added a post to her website on July 15, outlining her "image principles". The carefully worded statement says she always takes pictures "at the time in the location I specify".
She adds that she may use tools to sharpen her images, including "improving the light, tidying the background and other enrichments". However she states this is done in a way that is "representative to the true setting".
However, experts from The Times newspaper confirmed that in the case of the New York skyline photo, Liana had indeed superimposed an old photo as a 'view'. The experts also said use of the phrase "enrichments" did not rule out the use of Photoshop.
Newshub.
