To Photoshop or not to Photoshop? That is the question.
These days Photoshop is getting a bad rep for what is mostly now know as image manipulation.. Oh how I hate that word, actually I also hate the word hate.. ( note to self – in future, use dislike).
Manipulation… it pains me to see that word in articles or even sentences relating to my much-loved Photoshop.
Oh Photoshop, how I wish people would stop blaming you for the many insecurities that we ( even the ones getting Photoshoped, and plastered on billboards or covers of magazines – how ironic ) have. Does Humpty Dumpty blame the wall, the fall, or the fact he’s a fragile egg of his tragic demise? ( Wait What??!! Not sure where I was going with that, maybe someone could help me in the comments below ).
Plain and simply – Photoshop is a tool… Us photographers use it to correct many things, from a single lonely freckle on the Brides left cheek ( no not that cheek ), to faking the Moon landing of 1969 😉 . It is indeed a tool with many, many uses. How terribly unfortunate of it to have fallen into the wrong hands. Hands that have lots to gain from our most deadly of emotions… an emotion that can quite literally send us to an early grave… the one they call… Fear. Fear of not having that long wavy flowing golden hair, those long slender silky smooth legs, or the abs of a 20-year-old olympic gymnast. There’re products, by the millions that will magically cure you of all your insecurities, that will transform us into ageless gods and goddesses, and only for three installment of £9.99 plus postage and packaging.
In that sense the term image manipulation seems to hit the nail on the head. We’re bombarded with flawless specimens of the human body probably every minute of every day, feeling insecure seems to come hand in hand with the western world. It’s for that very reason that I refrained from using too much Photoshop in my wedding photography. That was until I took a few self portraits of myself ( Wait… What??!! Of-course a self-portrait is a portrait of myself, note to self – use less words, less apparently is more, and please stop multi tasking ).
I had done my research selected the right lighting, the right pose, right lens, the right hair style , and the right damn hair product, only to be saddened by one simple fact as I browsed my shots… I am not… Never will be – no matter what lights I use, how I style my hair, or what damn hair product I use – never will I be photogenic. So I photoshoped, and photoshoped, and photoshoped a little more, until I thought I was looking at my better looking brother, a brother that I DIDN’T actually have. At that’s point a flashback held all brain activity hostage, instead I relived the moment when my wonderful partner uttered the words – it’s not the size that counts, it’s what you d…. ( no not that ) it was when she whispered, loudly – Harder you no good w…. ( no not that either ).. Ah yes it was when she lovingly said – you’re so simple… ( poor thing, always mixing up her words, I knew what she really meant ) Keep is Simple, kinda like the what my salsa instructor tells me – Less is More.
So I started again with those loving words of encouragement – Keep it simple, less is more! But I began to feel a little shame, like I’m falling into the hands of those evil puppeteer who feed on mine and everyone else’s insecurities. Like I’m a cog in a machine perpetuating the cycle, like I was becoming one of them. That feeling stayed with me for a while, a long while actually. And when asked ‘Are those photoshoped’ I’d look them in the eye and meet that question with a ‘No’. Every time I said No I felt more shame.
That was until I began to accept, appreciate, and love the way I looked. Not in the photos but in real life, in the actual here and now. With that acceptance came a sense of confidence, enough of the stuff to say ‘Yes, of course they’re photoshoped, do I look like that now?’. When asked ‘Is that photoshoped’. You see what all this bad press about the image manipulation of Hollywood Stars and Celebrities should teach us mere mortals is that… Well they’re also mere mortals, the only difference being they spend fortunes on stylists, makeup artists, and of course photography. They’re not what we see in the papers, magazines, TV, or on the big Silver Screen. They’re in fact their better looking brothers or sisters, you know, the ones that don’t actually exist.
Do I think every photo should be photoshoped, of course not, what I do think however is that if we agree to them being photoshoped, that we, all of us, need to make sure we love and appreciate the real us not the ones we look at in photos.
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Naim Alwan | Creative Digital Media Creator, Film, Photography, and everything in-between…
http://www.ensoweddingphotography.co.uk
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Nice post. Simple is usually better. Plus the images are more timeless in my opinion. Get it as best you can in camera first.
Nice post, I agree with it and with the first comment. Do your best behind the camera, keep Photoshop simple, but sometimes with a little more “Photoshoping” an ordinary photo can become quite extraordinary.
The older I get, the easier it gets to let go of ANYTHING that gets in the way being happy, making enjoyable images, and being even happier if an image makes someone else happy.
The “anythings” includes all the “shoulds”, “oughts” and all manner of labels.
Being happy with what you make is now the only thing for me.