Truth/Lies, Photomanipulation

This week in class, we learned about the ‘clone’ tool in photoshop and ways to apply it.  It is a hugely useful thing to know about.   We initially worked with an old scratched photo and removed all the scratches.  Then I had a go at removing wrinkles and adding make up to a photograph of a model.  This struck me as timely, as we have been examining the binaries of beauty and ugliness this week in our Critical Studies lessons.   Until I started at college I was working as a mature model for artists and photographers and the photographers had varying degrees of enthusiasm and skill with Photoshop.  Some ‘over-processed’ my images (in my opinion) others spent more time adjusting lighting and focus to get the images they wanted. It seemed to me that a little editing was a good thing but a lot is too much.  I guess opinions differ on what is ‘ideal’ which brings in the Utopia/Dystopia binary.  

After class I had a go with an old family photo. I wanted to remove one of the people in the photo and keep three of the characters the same.  You can see here the simple stages from start to finish.  

I really like this weird result. I think it’s got a 60s/70s retro feel to it and the manipulations have given it a new twist. 

Future Possibilities

I realized there are endless possibilities with this tool and that we are now starting to build up a really good digital toolkit.  We can add, multiply, remove and improve images now.  We really have a lot of control with Photoshop and this will be useful to me in the future, with my artwork and family photos too. 

#Retro #manipulation #Wrinkles #Toolkit #Beauty #photoshop #Truth