Of course, photographers tend to create their own realities, which is cool, just as long as they don't sell them on as fact.
How did we get here, again?
:-)
Because we live in a tear them down world. Steve’s first claim to fame was that large eyed beautiful Afghan girl. I don’t know the circumstance, but when you point a large camera, 35” from someones face no matter what happens next there is a degree of manipulation, because she’s aware and awareness always alters reality.
If you put your camera on a tripod with a 300mm lens and shoot a mountain range you are altering reality. Nobody sees 300mm with their eyes, except Superman.
I very briefly viewed what someone said about Steve’s latest “altered” photos. Who cares? Most of them didn’t look that altered to me except from one cloning mistake. The thing is he got his message across and I like the photos.
I get creative briefs all the time and they say “make it look real”. What’s real? When we shot this advertising gig I think I probably only “directed” 20% of it. All I said was, do what you do.
These were people working and that’s all I wanted to show, from fields, to ships, helicopters, atv’s and a blackhawk. It was impossible to direct the atv’s because I was riding on bak of one and nobody could hear me no matter what I said and the blackhawk I was too busy being tossed around like a ping-pong ball to say anything.
https://russellrutherfordphoto.com/Artist.asp?ArtistID=45435&Akey=9F9HTDWN&ajx=1#!pf166995Yes I had AD’s (bosses) but we shot so fast, moved so quick, they never knew what I was doing until the DIT man showed it to them on screen and by then it was too late.Yes I did some post processing, mostly in lightroom for color and tone, but rarely took out or moved anything, but this was an advertising gig and I could have I just didn’t want that look where I shot background plates and assembled the images.
Yesterday my producer and I took a day off and went to the Taylor Wessing portrait prize show at the National Portrait Gallery.
https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/twppp-2018/exhibition/prize-winnersI’m sure looking at the huge body of work from many photographers, that the majority was staged, but I don’t care. The photos were beautiful, especially large, and the humanity was intact. They all did their subjects well and I’ll bet 90% or more that viewed it didn’t care if a color was changed, a blemish removed, or a soft drink sign was cloned out. It’s great work and deserved to be shown and much of it was for editorial publication.
I’m all for truth but as long as the post work change doesn’t really alter the narrative then?
IMO
BC