Photomanipulation

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Photo manipulation is the technique of modifying a photographic image by either analog or digital means.

Types of photo manipulation

In digital manipulation, photographs are usually taken with a digital camera and input directly into a computer. If a digital camera is not available, a printed photograph may be digitized using a scanner. Photos can also be obtained from stock photography databases. With the advent of computers, graphics tablets, and digital cameras, the term photo manipulation encompasses everything that can be done to a photo in a darkroom or on a computer. A photo manipulation is most commonly subtle (eg alterations to colouring, contrast, so forth), but may be explicit also (eg overlaying a head onto a different body, changing a sign's text). Sometimes a photo manipulation has little or no resemblance to the photo from which it started. Image manipulation software is then used to apply effects and warp the image in whatever way possible until the desired result is achieved.

Joseph Stalin pictured with the "Vanishing Commissar" (Nikolai Yezhov) before and after retouching

History

Before computers, photo manipulation was done by retouching with ink, double-exposure, piecing photos or negatives together in the darkroom or scratching Polaroids. Photo manipulation is as old as photography itself; the idea of a photo having inherent verisimilitude[Note 1] is a social construct. Manipulation has been used to deceive or persuade viewers, or for improved story-telling and self-expression. As early as the American Civil War photographs were published as engravings based on more than one negative.

Joseph Stalin was reported to have retouched photos for propaganda purposes. On May 5, 1920 his predecessor Lenin held a speech for Soviet troops that Leon Trotsky attended. Stalin had Trotsky retouched out of a photograph showing Trotsky in attendance. Nikolai Yezhov, an NKVD leader photographed alongside Stalin in at least one photograph, was shot in 1940 and subsequently edited out of the photograph.

It should be noted that photomanipulation is different from Poser porn. The former is used to modify an existing art work, while the later is used to creat a whole new art work.

See also [ Poser porn ]

Notes

  1. the appearance of being true or real:
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