On a number of occasions, people who view the BPS page ask for photographers to indicate whether an image has, in their opinion, been ‘over edited’. In some cases, they ask photographers when posting images to post the image ‘straight out of the camera'. When these comments come up it is clear there is a lack of understanding of what photography is about and they don’t seem to realise that every image taken on a mobile, has been automatically ‘overly developed/edited’. The most recent post got me thinking that I should put my thoughts down.
This question was raised about 3 days ago. “Just a thought. It would be good if posters voluntarily indicated if their shot has been (overly) manipulated in post. I am not talking about basic editing........ crop, contrast, brightness etc but the more heavy effects now possible with RAW files which can look fantastic but do not show the reality of a scene or subject.... Then again, maybe we just think of it as art.”
There is a difference between taking photographs and being a photographer. There are also many different types of photography, but all of them share some commonalities. Photography is a process of capturing light and information on a physical medium. All three types of photography - photography itself, art photography, and fine art photography - use different techniques and aims, to produce different results.
Photography is not new it has been around for centuries, just not in the form that we know. If you go back to the beginning and look at the definition of photography.
The etymology of ‘photography’ (Oxford Reference)
From photos (ϕοτοσ), light, and graphos (γραοσ), writing, delineation, or painting. Although ‘heliography’, ‘photogeny’, and ‘daguerreotypy’, were first used as alternatives, ‘photography’ eventually gained universal precedence as the preferred name
Note the inclusion of the word ‘painting’ in the description
Photography (Wikipedia)
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film.
Note the use of the word ‘art’ in the description.
Today everyone used digital cameras. Digital photography is merely a step on from film photography. Digital emerged out of film and to understand photography a lot of what we do with digital in fact came from film photography. So some interesting facts:
Firstly: Photography is an artistic form if you wish to use it as that but it is based on Science / Maths / Chemistry because it has been created by mathematicians, scientists, and chemists so a lot of the technology and the understanding of how the system works comes directly from this.
Not only is photography technical but it is also super creative - so it tends to play on both sides. Some people do photography to master technical skills and to produce very high-quality images and others get a kick out of it from a creative point of view.
The move from film to digital was made seamlessly, it was like nothing had changed - if you learned when film photography was around or you learn based on the digital today most of what you learn is the same - except for the darkroom.
The physical darkroom has been replaced by editing tools such as Photoshop. Photoshop has almost become the swear word of modern photography. When people see a great image you will be asked “Has it been photoshopped”. The thing is, Photoshop and other editing tools are part of what photographers use and it is a hell of a lot cheaper than having a dark room. These editing tools are fantastic products and are great expressive mediums. Not understanding Photoshop (or other editing tools), not understanding how to develop a file properly, not understanding the difference between developing and editing will hold you back.
end of part 1 (part 2 will be next week)
Thanks for reading. Please be in touch to learn more about my work and to book a portrait or personal branding session with me.
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