Photomanipulation 101

Although you will constantly hear photographers scold and nag about the photomanipulation process, it is one that has been used for many decades, and one which is able to offer a variety of benefits. It has also existed throughout the art of photography in a lot of different forms, including everything from different angles, how to use lights and settings, hiding imperfections, and so on.

Especially in the world we live in today, where everything and everyone is expected to be perfect, namely in the magazines that stare back at us from off the shelves, photo manipulation has played an incredibly large role.

What is it?

Photomanipulation is basically the art of taking a normal photograph and then manipulating it the way that you want it, namely through use of a computer and various tools and applications on the computer. Photomanipulation modifies photographs either by analog or digital means, and is also commonly referred or related to what is known as 'Photoshopping', which is the slang term for the digital editing of photos, and although it is not directly aimed at the Adobe Photoshop application, it was named after it. Adobe's Photoshop is only one of the big bunch of the many different digital editing apps that are available however, and for example there is Corel PhotoPaint, Paint Shop Pro, and even Paint, although this is one of the less advanced programs and is rarely used in the photomanipulation processes of today.

Ethics

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the issue of photomanipulation, and although there are definitely many people who have good, positive things to say about it, there are also those who feel that there are concerning issues surrounding it. For example on the covers of mags, when celebs' heads are pasted onto different bodies (think Oprah), this in the past has stirred up a lot of mumbo jumbo. One situation wa when the O.J. Simpson trial was taking place and the Newsweek magazine posted his mug shot as their magazine cover picture, while Time Magazine posted the exact same picture only used photomanipulation to alter it, and ended up making Simpson appear much darker than he was in the actual picture, and as well they removed the serial number and darkened the area around him. The Reuters' Lebanon incidents (they photoshopped in burning buildings and extra rockets) is just another prime example.

The ironic part was that the magazines ended up side by side on a newsstand, and it was incredibly clear what a significant amount of photomanipulation had taken place in Time's version of the photograph.

Journalism is just one area using a great deal of photomanipulation, and fashion mags are definetely dominating the list as well. One of the biggest problems with these photomanipulated photographs is that they alter the opinions and views of the public who, for the majority of the time, have no clue that the particular photo was even altered at all. Therefore there really needs to be certain standards set in the field of photography when it comes to something such as photomanipulation.

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