Cambodian officials have condemned a Co Mayo artist for doctoring archive photos of Khmer Rouge genocide victims to show them smiling in prison.

Vice News pulled Matt Loughrey's work off its site yesterday, later saying the article did not meet its editorial standards -- and publishing it was an "error".

Mr Loughrey claims he had "moral reasons" for adding the smiles, and the permission of victims' relatives -- which the Cambodian Ministry of Culture says is not true.

Dr Emily Mark-Fitzgerald, head of the School of Art History at UCD, says the altered images were in incredibly poor taste.