The Cottingley Fairies Photograph: Historic Spirit Photo of a Girl and Fairy #3627122 (License: Personal Use)

This black-and-white photograph, taken in 1917 in Cottingley, England, shows teenager Elisabeth Wright seated among leafy shrubs, smiling toward a translucent fairy figure seemingly hovering beside her. The “fairy” was later revealed to be a paper cutout attached to a hatpin, part of a famous photographic hoax that fooled many-including spiritualist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-for decades.

Used in articles about photographic hoaxes, early 20th-century spiritualism, and the intersection of myth and media; targets users researching historical frauds, Victorian/Edwardian folklore, or the history of photography.