I would have been much more intrigued to see the same shot pre-and-post Photoshop, rather than two similar but clearly distinct ones. Probably as close as they can manage to collect, but who knows what was done between those two shots?

I'm not sure framing is a lie. I often consider it one of the few bits of art brought into a photo by the photog. The rest think is spot on. I can also understand the art-IS-lie philosophy. Then you can just argue over how many layers of lie are involved in each piece.