editing

Editing has always been an integral part of photography

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Richard Avedon’s markup

 

Post-processing is one of the most controversial topics in photography these days, with some even dismissing edited photos as "digital art." This argument often comes from the idea that back in the film days, photography was more honest, and editing is a new thing.

History tells us a different story, though. Some big names in photography, like Ansel Adams and Bill Brandt, knew that what happened after the shot was just as important as taking it. Clicking the shutter was just another step in the very long process of crafting a masterpiece, which often required many hours in the darkroom perfecting the final print.

Other masters would use professional printers to bring their vision to fruition. Take Richard Avedon, for example. He handed his negatives to a master printer. This person would take Avedon's incredibly detailed notes and feedback and turn them into the final print. Now, that is even better than AI!

Perhaps, part of the criticism comes from the fact that the darkroom was once reserved for the most dedicated or the ones with the most resources. Today, anyone with a smartphone can tweak their photos -and it’s easy to overdo it.

Whether you prefer the simplicity of straight-out-of-camera shots or enjoy fine-tuning your images afterward, it is you who decides what to do and how to do it. Never let anyone change that.

Leave room to reframe your photographs

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One of the things I noticed when I switched from 120 medium format film back to digital, was the extra step I had to take with every single one of my photographs. I had to crop them to square. Digital sensors are usually rectangles, 3:2 ratio, so I was capturing more of the scene than I really needed.

At first, I thought that was a waste of my time and of space. After all, after cropping the RAW files to a square, a third of the "negative" was going unused. That could add up quickly, especially if you shoot a lot of images like I do.

Anyway, over time, I started to see how useful that information to the left and the right of what I had seen in the field could be. It allowed me to reframe images where I could have done better, or to discover slightly different compositions from the one I had seen in location.

I liked it so much that I wanted to do the same on the top and bottom of the frame. So every time I was about to take a photo, I'd take a step back to capture a little bit more of the scene.

On Editing

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A few months ago, I decided to start calling myself an artist, instead of a photographer. After all, I create art. Or I try to.

Artists aren't trying to represent what I see in an accurate and truthfully way. We try to express ourselves.

Instead of capturing nature with proper exposure and focus so it resembles as much as possible the original, we try to use it to express an idea or emotion, to add our own character.

This approach to photography is less about what's in front of the lens, and more about who's behind it.

In order to make an image able to convey our message from a realistic representation, often times we have no choice but to edit, in software or the darkroom, our negatives, RAW files, whatever it is, so creation can happen.

Many dismiss this as unethical or unnecessary. I say, this is how art is done.

There are no rules

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"Photography is not a sport, there are no rules, everything must be tried and tested" - Bill Brandt

Bill Brandt is one my greatest inspirations. I love his landscapes, portraits and even the nudes (not a big fan of the genre, but the way he did it was just genius).

I think what I like the most about him is his approach to photography. For him, it was all about creating something with the medium, avoiding silly self-imposed rules.

He died in 1983, 5 years before Photoshop was created. That didn't stop him from completely changing his images in the darkroom. Actually, he admittedly did most of his work in the darkroom.

The image of the seagull is a good example. He added the bird afterwards, and the morning Sun years later.

He was brilliant, and we'd be wise to follow his advice to experiment and try everything.

PS: If you want to know more about Bill Brandt, I strongly recommend watching this interview from 1983 for BBC's Master Photographers.

Editing

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When Amstrad launched its word processor 30 years ago, writers were initially resistant – processing was for peas, not words. But many soon saw the benefits of life without Tipp-Ex.

How writers learned to love the computer

I'd bet that there are very few writers today neglecting the advantages of the backspace key.

Almost two hundreds years have passed since photography was born, and yet many still see editing as something evil.

The book is the destination. The image is the goal. The tools you use to make your art don't matter.