Recently, I was chatting with a friend about my work when the P Word came up:
"Photoshop"
My nose crinkled instinctively. Taking note of the puzzled look on his face, I explained my reaction:
"I don't edit my photos. That's a non-negotiable thing for me."
I feel that editing, airbrushing, colorizing, enhancing, and all those other '-ings' steal away from the integrity of the image. To me, editing my work would feel like a betrayal of my subject, like saying that something could be just good enough to be my inspiration, but not good enough to be my final piece.
We bantered back and forth, using pieces from the collections as discussion points.
Exhibit A:
 |
| Vietnam Roses |
 |
| Roses Redux |
Months ago, I tinkered with this image as an experiment in editing (pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone all the while). Blurring out the names brought the roses further into focus, but I struggled with how this literal blurring of names played against the intention of the memorial from whence they came. Could I be reading too much meaning into this otherwise simple act of altering the image? Surely. But what are we doing we when create but making meaning? I appreciate the idea of removing the names so that the roses stand out against the reflection of the cobblestones. However, for me, that takes away the heart from the greater image that comes from the fact that they are roses left at that memorial. Otherwise, it could be any other slab of black marble.
Can you create gorgeously amazing pieces with the use of Corel and Photoshop? Absolutely. Do those images exist in nature? Absolutely not.
And that's what comes down to for me. I want to capture those moments, those scenes, those places *as they are* - not as they could be with the help of advances in modern software. I want to preserve those scenes at that time, at that place, in that moment.
And so, there you have it. What you see is what I saw. I work to put the precision, framing, and composition into capturing each of my shots in real time.
In the end, he labeled me a purist and perhaps that's true. But that's surely a P Word I can get on board with.
