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Ivanka Trump accused of Photoshopping Taj Mahal photos

As the Trump family concludes their visit to India, the president’s daughter is facing accusations of Photoshopping her photos.

On Monday, Ivanka shared a photo of herself posing in front of the otherwise empty Taj Mahal.

“The grandeur and beauty of the Taj Mahal is awe-inspiring,” Ivanka captioned a series of the photos of the mausoleum.

However, shortly after sharing the pictures, Slate questioned whether the 38-year-old had edited the first photo of the album - as the area near Ivanka’s left arm and toso “appears to be much more in focus than the water on either side of her”.

“Could this possibly be some sloppy Photoshopping?” the outlet questioned. “The irregularity in definition led some of the Slate staff to suspect that someone had inserted or enlarged the gap in Ivanka’s picture, or otherwise messed around with the photo in some way, a thing many people do on Instagram to make themselves look thinner.

“But would Ivanka really go through such trouble for a single photo in a series that otherwise doesn’t seem to exhibit any telltale signs of photoshopping?”

People on social media also suggested the first daughter had edited the photo.

Detail of a picture by Al Drago of Reuters showing Ivanka Trump in front of the Taj Mahal (REUTERS / Al Drago)
Detail of a picture by Al Drago of Reuters showing Ivanka Trump in front of the Taj Mahal (REUTERS / Al Drago)

“She made her waist smaller,” one person wrote on Twitter. “Check out the water between her waist and arm, it is a different colour and texture than the water elsewhere in the background.”

Another person said: “Either blur the full pool background or sort out Ivanka’s waist/arm gap or we might think her waist has been modified…”

One possible reason for the irregularity in the photo could be that the picture was taken in iPhone’s portrait mode, which can cause clarity inconsistency.

However, an Instagram account dedicated to calling out Photoshop told the outlet that Ivanka's “waist has definitely been Photoshopped” after comparing Ivanka’s photo to one shared by AFP photographer Mandel Ngan at the same time.

If Ivanka did edit the photo, she is not alone, as a 2015 survey found that 68 per cent of adults edit their selfies.