What We Did Before Photoshop

A look back--

What Did We Do Before Photoshop? | Art Beat | PBS NewsHour | PBS: "Next, we turn to the work of modern artists, including Herbert Bayer, Maurice Tabard and Dora Maar, who have used photography to evoke subjective states of mind, conjuring dreamlike scenarios and surreal imaginary worlds, in which women morph into cats and eyes stare from the walls of empty rooms. The final section presents photographs from the second half of the 20th century by Jerry Uelsmann,Duane Michals, John Baldessari and other artists who have adapted earlier tropes and techniques of image manipulation -- spirit photography, composite portraiture, news-photo retouching -- to create works that self-consciously and often humorously highlight the inherent mutability of the photographic image. Are there any manipulations that can't be done in Photoshop or don't look as good? MIA FINEMAN: Not really. The only case I can think of would be an artist or designer who wants the rough, handmade look of cut-and-paste collage with the seams showing. But maybe even that can be simulated digitally. One of the major differences between manipulation in the darkroom and manipulation with Photoshop is time and physical effort -- the click of a mouse vs. exposure and developing, not to mention the mixing of chemicals and wasted sheets of photographic paper. Which is to say that there was a certain amount of craft and patience one had to possess in the darkroom that is much different than using a computer. Do you think this cheapens modern manipulation when used in fine art, because it's so easy to do now? MIA FINEMAN: No. Photographers have always used whatever technical means were available to them to create the pictures they wanted to create -- Photoshop is the latest tool. That said, I do think there's a tendency among some contemporary image-makers to overuse digital tools and effects -- but it's mostly a matter of taste. . . Nearly every photographer engaged in some form of image manipulation at some point, even "straight" photographers like Paul Strand and Ansel Adams -- they just didn't talk about it. Editor's note: "Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop" will be at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York through Jan. 27, 2013, and is complemented by an exhibition catalog authored by Mia Fineman. . . . "


Follow @jmpPLUS