One night with I think Jim Richardson and I know Kurt Markus many years ago after each of our presentations, we had a discussion about "cleaning" things up in post in the early part of the 21st century. Photoshop was in common use at the time and each brought a different perspective to the conversation. What was memorable to me that evening (there were maybe a half dozen-ten sitting around swilling Picon Punch and other adult beverages there after dinner was the lamentations of Markus. This was his second presentation to this group over the years.
For many year, Markus was the master of shooting cowboys and ranches in the west with large format, each meticulously taken to avoid barb wire fences, utility poles and pickups, anything 20th century or newer. He realized the digital tech would now make his work a little easier to "clean" things up after the fact. Yet to him in retrospect, it was the absence of the sense of time in his photos that was bothering him.
He was now regretting that his work now looked like other cowboy photos from any time in the past 150 years since the inclusion of those barb wire fences, utility poles and pickups would have separated his work from those before him and added a sense of time to his work, placing his in context with the rest of the world.
Up to that time, I made it a point to tell and demo this wonderful digital technology that we could use to eliminate this clutter and since then, now use it as a tool to put my work into the context of the era of which I create it rather than to try to turn back the clock and eliminate.
I now find beauty in this "clutter" and use it as park of my vision when it enhances and places my work into the present.
Sure, it's nice for the "pristine" and uncluttered image, but to always want to "clean up the mess," I'd rather find a way to include those things as a creative part of the composition or find a way in the viewfinder to minimize when I don't have other options.
This approach isn't for everyone but for me, it lifted a burden and started a new direction in my work that has created my own vision.
Just my 2 cents by sharing a different approach to another of a photographer's life annoyance of the world out there.