Photoshoplifting (Or: How Much Is Too Much?)

I mean, they're oKAY...

There was, just recently, a very interesting article in October’s Outside Magazine devoted entirely to photo fakery. What made it so fascinating was not the fact that it was happening at the professional level, but, rather, the very casual attitude some of the biggest offenders were maintaining. When photographer Ed Freeman was outed for falsifying a picture for a contest, his response was absolutely unapologetic. As reported by Outside Magazine: “I’m an artist,” he told [the interviewer]. “I’m interested in creating great pictures, not documentary images. I couldn’t care less if they’re ‘real’ or not.”

I must say, that made me think quite a bit. I can’t say I’ve been in photography long enough to have a stake in it’s direction (and I certainly haven’t contributed much to it!), but if that’s the way it’s going, then count me out. It’s possible that I briefly wanted to be a professional travel or portrait photographer, but after dipping a toe in that world via classes at the International Center for Photography, I was cured of all ambition to shoot for a living. What I learned in the Fashion Photographer course was that it’s not about following your artistic totems, but instead, following the whims of the culture and styles which change seemingly daily. Personal projects are only afforded by the successful. As the prosecuting attorney at Pink’s trial said to the Hon. Worm: “This will not do.”

(A personal aside: there was a gentleman at ICP taking classes who always walked around with a Hasselblad around his neck. I mean, like, always. This is not some SLR that you could arguably walk around with all the time and honestly say you weren’t TOO uncomfortable, no- this is a heavy and cumbersome piece of (expensive) equipment. “Try harder, sir!”, I wanted to scream. It would be less obvious to wear a sandwich board saying: “I’m a photographer, and I’m serious about it! My camera is heavy and expensive, thus is my skill level greater than yours. Just give up now. If you were at all serious about photography, you’d be carrying a really nice camera around your neck. I hate you and your pictures suck.” It would be a large sandwich board.)

I belong to DeviantArt, as many others do. Some of the photos that people publish are just amazing. But a lot of them are photoshopped to death. Now, who am I to say what’s right and wrong about what you do to your pictures? But it leaves me with an overall sour taste. I can honestly say that I try to photoshop as little as possible, although a little is absolutely necessary as I scan all my negatives and they get dusty as bejesus. Take the above picture, for example. It’s a long exposure on film through a Infrared filter. That’s what the sky actually looks like on the negative. And I’m proud of that. Another I’m quite proud of:

This will be a classic some day, I'm sure of it.

This was the biggest pain in the ass to get. The camera I used is freaking ancient, and there are like 10 steps you have to go through just to shoot one exposure. But I bought this camera specifically for its ability to achieve the tilt-shift effect. So does this make me a better photographer? Absolutely not. Am I a better person than you are? Yeah, probably. Another (this is, after all, a forum for my pictures):

Tell me this doesn't look like LEGOs.

So who’s right? It’s hard to say. If you look at my gallery, it’s pretty dull compared to some of the others on there, probably resulting from my lack of photoshoppery. There aren’t many jaw-dropping images in my gallery, but there are some that might make you say “Hmm” in a non-commital manner. Regardless, I won’t give in to the photoshop hype. Mediocre or not!

And now, I’d like to bring attention to some other hard-working artists. If you like my stuff at all, you’ll love theirs’.

First up: Mike Vorrasi. He’s a hard-working photographer, but he just really loves to take pictures, even when the economy is draining the work-pool. And most important: he loves photography for the sake of it. And even though he’s better and more experienced, he loves talking to me about it and he gives me honest appraisal of my work. Very different from what you can sometimes find in the Art world.

And then there’s Diana Pappas. Skillful and talented, she’s the hardest-working photographer I know.

And then, of course, there’s Melanie McCabe, the genius who works with my brother. In the last year, she not only surpassed me in skill, she’s been steadily getting better ever since. It’s kind of annoying, but she’s so cool it’s hard for my ego to care.

Until next time!