Entry 10 – Photo Manipulation

In the early days of photography, photo manipulation was manually done during the process of photo development in the darkroom. This includes double-exposure, retouching the film with ink or paint, as well as other tampering on the negatives, such as scratching, cutting or burning. The old fashioned photo editing could accomplish a similar result as digital manipulation; however, they are more difficult to achieve.

Grate Stern,                                                      Unidentified American artist
Dream No. 1 Electrical Appliance for the Home,     Man on Rooftop with Eleven Men in
1948                                                                 Formation on His Shoulders, 1930

Photo retouching nowadays deals photographs with computer softwares. The image editing programs became a tool for artists to incorporate their creativity to the original photographs to deliver their ideas. A couple approaches to photo manipulation would be digital collage – taking portions from multiple photographs to create a single image, and photo alteration – removing unwanted or flawed elements, reshaping subjects, enhancing colours and adjusting contrast. These digitally manipulated images are recognized as an art form under the terms digital or computer art, multimedia art, or new media art. This type of photographs is often employed in advertisement, with adoption of a surreal style or theme.

U.S. Army photograph
Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at the Yalta Conference, 1945

While searching inspirations for my final assignment, I stumbled upon a German photographer/image artist, Anja Stiegler, who takes her viewers into a dreamy world with a mixture of surreal and conceptual images. She is a self-taught photographer who discovered her interest for photography and image editing in 2006. Music and everyday life are her inspirations to bring forth the feelings of freedom and happiness in her art.

Anja Stiegler
Blind Faith

Anja Stiegler
Through the Eyes of a Child

Anja Stiegler
Into the Blue

Anja Stiegler
Time to Leave

References

Pikabu. (2011). Meeting in Yalta, 1945 [Photograph]

  Retrieved from URL ( http://pikabu.ru/story/vstrecha_v_yalte_1945_god_305898)

Newman, K. (2013). Film Photo Manipulation, Before Photoshop [Photographs]

  Retrieved from URL (http://120pearls.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/film-photo-manipulation-b-p-before-photoshop/)

Stiegler, A. (2014) Portfolio [Photographs]

  Retrieved from URL (http://www.photoflake.com/portfolio/portfolio/)

U.S. Photograph. (1945). Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at the Yalta Conference [Photograph]
  Retrieved from URL ( http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/File:Fart_joke.jpg)