HE claims to be the photographer of the stars - and has the photos to "prove" it.

The company website, Facebook account and business card of professional photographer Patrick Tan feature pictures of him posing with various celebrities.

The problem is, a number of these pictures appear to be fake, with Mr Tan's picture superimposed next to the celebrities.

In one picture, his head is photoshopped onto the body of another man.

A group of prominent concert organisers and sponsors are seeing red over these "fake" photographs which give the impression that Mr Tan has "high-powered" showbiz connections.

When contacted by The New Paper on Sunday, Mr Tan claimed he was not aware that the pictures were fake.

The photographer, who is better known by his nickname "Professor Tan", claimed a former employee might have been responsible for the fakes.

When asked why he had included the fakes in his portfolio, he claimed he had not looked at them closely.

The photograph in which Mr Tan's head was superimposed onto another man's body showed him with Taiwanese singer Fong Fei-fei and Hype Records director Ken Lim.

In the original photograph, the third person is actually Mr George Chia, managing director of PH Sales & Marketing.

Mr Chia is a concert sponsor who had been giving Mr Tan backstage access as a personal favour.

Mr Tan was also photoshopped into a picture of Hong Kong entertainers Alan Tam, Hacken Lee and Joey Leung.

He also appears in a picture with veteran performer Ricky Hui, but that picture appears to be authentic.

Mr Tan has claimed to potential customers that he had been hired as the "official photographer" for Unusual Productions and Hype Records, two main concert organisers here.

These pictures were allegedly used in his portfolio to attract customers to sign up for his photography services.

However, both concert organisers confirmed that they had never hired him.

An Unusual spokesman said that while Mr Tan is a friend of the company's director, Mr Johnny Ong, he had never been hired as an official photographer.

"We definitely do not encourage photographs of our shows to be used for such commercial purposes," the spokesman said.

Mr Lim of Hype Records, which has organised concerts for big names like Jay Chou, took offence at the fake pictures.

The former Singapore Idol judge said: "For this photographer, such forgery will haunt him more than assist him.

"It's common sense that whoever has his or her picture taken with a big star would remember that occasion vividly, and it's just a matter of time before the truth surfaces."

He said of the fake Fong Fei-fei picture: "The head is obviously a badly superimposed job."

Mr Chia, who "lost his head" in the fake photo, said he was not likely to invite Mr Tan to his sponsored concerts again.

Mr Tan also posted a picture of himself with Taiwan pop trio S.H.E.

When asked about this, Ms Merisa Chu, chief promotions manager at HIM Music, which has S.H.E in its stable, said that even if Mr Tan did genuinely take a picture with an artiste, it does not mean he is a "photographer of choice".

"Anyone could have their pictures taken with celebrities," she said.

Ms Chu said the S.H.E. picture he posted was likely taken after the S.H.E Magical Paradise Concert 2005. There were media people, sponsors and fans at the post-concert event.

She said HIM Music usually hires photographers with a music industry background, who are highly recommended and have a clean record.

These photographers cannot sell any pictures of the artistes, or upload them on their websites without the company's approval.

She said: "Unless he has got permission from the record company or the artistes, this act would be simply very unprofessional.

"If he was (really) engaged by record companies to take pictures, all the more he shouldn't be doing this.

"Fans should be more cautious and not be taken easily by this kind of pictures or claims."

Agreeing, Ms Angie Ho, artiste manager for Jack Neo's J Team Productions, singled out posted pictures of Mr Tan with Jack and Lin Ru Ping, two of the stars of Money No Enough 2.

She said: "These two pictures were taken during the Money No Enough 2 wrap party (in June). He was hired by the restaurant owner, not us.

"This is common. Some hawker or restaurant stall owners put up such photos and claim the artistes are regular customers, but in actual fact they just went there once."

Said Mr Lim: "With the right software, anything can be done with these pictures. Doctoring them or using them without prior approval seems to be slowly developing into a trend on the Internet these days.

"I'm not surprised as a lot of information and pictures that you see on the Internet are actually altered. As technology advances, it's not advisable to gauge the truth solely on face value. It's necessary to check the facts and the visuals."

How to spot a fake

These are the two most tell-tale signs that a photo is fake:

1. OVERLY SHARP EDGES

Using 'Professor' Tan's fake picture with singer Fong Fei-fei on page one, The New Paper photo chief Simon Ker said: 'Look at his hair. The edges are too sharp, it doesn't blend into the picture well.

'Usually for real photos, there's an effect called feathering. The edges are soft.'

2. INCONSISTENT LIGHTING

For Fong Fei-fei's and Ken Lim's faces, the camera flash was from the front, lighting up their faces and causing a shadow under the singer'scap.

For Mr Tan's face, the lighting on the superimposed head came from the right side of the photo, causing a shadow on the left side of the neck.

What about the two identical images of Mr Tan in the picture with Alan Tam, Hacken Lee and Joey Leung, and the one with Ricky Hui?

Mr Ker noted the same inconsistencies in the Alan Tam picture, in particular, the sharp edge on the singer's jacket, where it meets the image of Mr Tan.

However, he said the picture with Ricky Hui appears genuine, with even lighting and no sharp edges, and could have been the original source of the image.

This story was first published in The New Paper on 31 August 2008.