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Perceptive Vision - Developing a Personal Style

Issues of image enhancement - manipulation
Since the inception of the photographic medium, photographers have always enhanced or manipulated their work. In the digital age the lines have become less clear what is manipulated and what is enhanced. There is a book by William Mitchell called The Reconfugured Eye that deals with this - the term post photographic era comes from this also.

However, there is a distinct difference with enhancement and manipulation –

enhancement usually allows adjustment of contrast, tone, luminosity, colour, dodging and burning in, limited repairing of any aberrations etc. This is very much what photographers working in a traditional manner would do in a darkroom – they might also spot out any dust spots etc. However with photoshop it is possible to control very fine adjustments of tone, contrast and localized and dodging burning etc. When converting a colour image to black and white there are many more options than with the traditional use of black & white film. By using adjustment layers in Photoshop it is possible to print a proof image and then return to the file and readjust the qualities of the layer – today most images that are published are digitally enhanced in some way.

In this image from my Acute Architectural Sites series - digital enhancement has been used to bring out the tonal qualities of the original image.The sky has been darkened in the corners to centre the visual energy on the building. The right side of the tower has been lightened to increase the sense of dimensionality. These are all things that could be achieved in a darkroom with traditional methods.

manipulation on the other hand takes allows cutting and pasting from other images, altering perspective and the use of effect filters in photoshop. In terms of current fashion photography I have a friend who works in this industry in Paris and nearly all images have the legs lengthened noses shortened etc.

This detail from You Eat What You Are - mailart projects - points out its dependency on digital manipulation. The coke and McDonalds have be cut and pasted into an historical image of The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci

Consider how this fits with your work and philosophy.