Photoshop and Fantasies
Excruciatingly long post. Get yourself some decent coffee and draw up a comfy chair. We can’t rush this one.
About four months ago, Richard suddenly became allergic to Photoshop. Overnight he just stopped using it. Now this is the dude that is crazy about anything to do with computers, the dude who studies CGI, the dude that teaches Photoshop courses to local camera clubs, this is Mr Fluffy, skilled Photoshopper extraordinaire.
Once upon a time he used to idolise Roge who is a gifted photographic artist who spends hundreds of hours basically re-creating every molecule of skin of each of his models. Rich used to believe in the power of Digital Gem skin smoothing, he thought nothing of spending 15-20 hours after a shoot devotedly Photoshopping the images, so that each model could look perfect, better than her best, she could look at those pictures and think “Wow, I never knew I could look that good!” Indeed, without Rich’s fantastic Photoshop skills, I can guarantee I would not be a model today.
At one point, towards the latter part of 2007, his reputation actually reached the level of “respected photographer” to the extent that models would seek him out, ask him to do their portfolios, and not charge for images. We had (shock, horror) real genuine clients, who wanted the Mr Fluffy treatment. Ordinary women, middle-aged, imperfect just like me, who wanted to look good, feel sexy, and be empowered by the modelling experience. And Rich loved it. He loved the look on their faces, the widening of their eyes when they saw the images, the exclamation of “Damn, I’m hot, and I never knew it.” He really loves making women happy (it’s his biggest weakness, truth be told.)
So what the hell happened to our intrepid hero? Why did he lose his faith? Why did he cancel all the clients, back out of the professional side of things, and cancel all shoots?
Well, as I said before, the disillusionment set in towards the end of last year. He was under huge amounts of day-job pressure, and he simply didn’t have the time to spend 20+ hours post-processing per shoot. Not every shoot would take that much time, of course, but hey, we’re talking Mr Perfectionist here, aspiring to smooth-skin a-la-Roge, every wart and wrinkle removed until the client was happy and felt and looked 20 years younger. He was spending so much time in Photoshop that he had no time left for the family. It stopped being fun, and started feeling like work.
And so he cut back on post-processing. He realised that photography was not about creating an illusion, not about lying to the subject that she really DID look that good at 50, that her spotty skin was really flawless and that those several spare tyres and wrinkles didn’t actually exist. “Photoshop is not a cure for pigging out on chocolate,” he said.
He used Photoshop to smooth out the back-drop, and that was about it. The photos were still stunning of course, the lighting was beautiful, and he is a good enough photographer to position the model so that her less-than-optimal physical attributes were in shadow, or at an angle. And heck, I saw the results. They were really GOOD. The models didn’t look like marble statues - they looked REAL women. Their inner beauty showed. No they didn’t look as young, nor like they came out of a celeb-magazine, but their skin had texture, their wrinkles increased the character and beauty of the shot, not detracted from it. They still looked hot, and best of all, this was REALLY THEM (O.K. and a significant amount of photographic skill I grant you!) I was really much prouder of his new images than the previous heavily post-processed ones. Simply put, he was developing into a better photographer.
But some of the models did not like this. No, they did not like it at all. Some models who came for TFCD shoots were upset. They felt cheated. “Why haven’t you digitally smoothed my skin?” exclaimed one. “Why have I still got rolls of fat on my belly?” complained another. “This isn’t good enough. It’s not what I signed up for. I want 50 perfect photos. Do it again!” Another model even tried to post-process the images herself, by Photoshopping the skin. Of course this not only violated the model agreement, but it made Rich incandescent with rage. “What’s wrong with the images?” he fumed. “She looks gorgeous. Why can’t she see that this is really her, and that she’s beautiful as she is?” But this was not enough. Models wanted the Mr Fluffy treatment. They wanted to look like a T.V. celeb. They wanted to be other than they really were. They wanted the illusion.
And that was the turning point for Rich. He went through a phase where he cancelled everything, all shoots, he stopped looking at nude photographs, he even thought about giving up nude photography. And for a horrible moment, I really thought he was going to. But thank the Gods for this blog, and for you lot. I refused to let him quit, and I talked incessantly about photography and the bloggie community, so that he had no choice but to join in. And he came out of his shell, and started to chat to some of you again. And of course, I’ve been able to shove under his nose some stunning art produced by so many of you, which has re-encouraged him to start shooting again.
He began the same way as he did last time - by shooting me. And now I’m tentatively booking models again! He’s on the road to recovery. And he’s doing it his way. Minimal post-processing, unless HE wants to spend the time modifying the images, unless HE thinks it is necessary to produce better art. He’s not going to use Photoshop to “fix” the less-than perfect, just to make the women happy. He’s not going to lie. He going to do what the hell he wants. It’s his art, after all.
I guess this means that he’s going to produce significantly fewer publishable photos per shoot, and it probably makes him more of a purist. But I reckon it makes him a better photographer too. Certainly he’s a happier one.
Women need to accept themselves as real people, not expect the photographer to transform them into someone they would like to be. This is the difference between feeling empowered by your own real beauty, and not just living in a celebrity-fuelled fantasy.
You are beautiful because of who you are, warts and all.
Trust the photographer to capture that.
Pirate Maiden. Beautiful for both her looks and personality. No Photoshop required.
About four months ago, Richard suddenly became allergic to Photoshop. Overnight he just stopped using it. Now this is the dude that is crazy about anything to do with computers, the dude who studies CGI, the dude that teaches Photoshop courses to local camera clubs, this is Mr Fluffy, skilled Photoshopper extraordinaire.
Once upon a time he used to idolise Roge who is a gifted photographic artist who spends hundreds of hours basically re-creating every molecule of skin of each of his models. Rich used to believe in the power of Digital Gem skin smoothing, he thought nothing of spending 15-20 hours after a shoot devotedly Photoshopping the images, so that each model could look perfect, better than her best, she could look at those pictures and think “Wow, I never knew I could look that good!” Indeed, without Rich’s fantastic Photoshop skills, I can guarantee I would not be a model today.
At one point, towards the latter part of 2007, his reputation actually reached the level of “respected photographer” to the extent that models would seek him out, ask him to do their portfolios, and not charge for images. We had (shock, horror) real genuine clients, who wanted the Mr Fluffy treatment. Ordinary women, middle-aged, imperfect just like me, who wanted to look good, feel sexy, and be empowered by the modelling experience. And Rich loved it. He loved the look on their faces, the widening of their eyes when they saw the images, the exclamation of “Damn, I’m hot, and I never knew it.” He really loves making women happy (it’s his biggest weakness, truth be told.)
So what the hell happened to our intrepid hero? Why did he lose his faith? Why did he cancel all the clients, back out of the professional side of things, and cancel all shoots?
Well, as I said before, the disillusionment set in towards the end of last year. He was under huge amounts of day-job pressure, and he simply didn’t have the time to spend 20+ hours post-processing per shoot. Not every shoot would take that much time, of course, but hey, we’re talking Mr Perfectionist here, aspiring to smooth-skin a-la-Roge, every wart and wrinkle removed until the client was happy and felt and looked 20 years younger. He was spending so much time in Photoshop that he had no time left for the family. It stopped being fun, and started feeling like work.
And so he cut back on post-processing. He realised that photography was not about creating an illusion, not about lying to the subject that she really DID look that good at 50, that her spotty skin was really flawless and that those several spare tyres and wrinkles didn’t actually exist. “Photoshop is not a cure for pigging out on chocolate,” he said.
He used Photoshop to smooth out the back-drop, and that was about it. The photos were still stunning of course, the lighting was beautiful, and he is a good enough photographer to position the model so that her less-than-optimal physical attributes were in shadow, or at an angle. And heck, I saw the results. They were really GOOD. The models didn’t look like marble statues - they looked REAL women. Their inner beauty showed. No they didn’t look as young, nor like they came out of a celeb-magazine, but their skin had texture, their wrinkles increased the character and beauty of the shot, not detracted from it. They still looked hot, and best of all, this was REALLY THEM (O.K. and a significant amount of photographic skill I grant you!) I was really much prouder of his new images than the previous heavily post-processed ones. Simply put, he was developing into a better photographer.
But some of the models did not like this. No, they did not like it at all. Some models who came for TFCD shoots were upset. They felt cheated. “Why haven’t you digitally smoothed my skin?” exclaimed one. “Why have I still got rolls of fat on my belly?” complained another. “This isn’t good enough. It’s not what I signed up for. I want 50 perfect photos. Do it again!” Another model even tried to post-process the images herself, by Photoshopping the skin. Of course this not only violated the model agreement, but it made Rich incandescent with rage. “What’s wrong with the images?” he fumed. “She looks gorgeous. Why can’t she see that this is really her, and that she’s beautiful as she is?” But this was not enough. Models wanted the Mr Fluffy treatment. They wanted to look like a T.V. celeb. They wanted to be other than they really were. They wanted the illusion.
And that was the turning point for Rich. He went through a phase where he cancelled everything, all shoots, he stopped looking at nude photographs, he even thought about giving up nude photography. And for a horrible moment, I really thought he was going to. But thank the Gods for this blog, and for you lot. I refused to let him quit, and I talked incessantly about photography and the bloggie community, so that he had no choice but to join in. And he came out of his shell, and started to chat to some of you again. And of course, I’ve been able to shove under his nose some stunning art produced by so many of you, which has re-encouraged him to start shooting again.
He began the same way as he did last time - by shooting me. And now I’m tentatively booking models again! He’s on the road to recovery. And he’s doing it his way. Minimal post-processing, unless HE wants to spend the time modifying the images, unless HE thinks it is necessary to produce better art. He’s not going to use Photoshop to “fix” the less-than perfect, just to make the women happy. He’s not going to lie. He going to do what the hell he wants. It’s his art, after all.
I guess this means that he’s going to produce significantly fewer publishable photos per shoot, and it probably makes him more of a purist. But I reckon it makes him a better photographer too. Certainly he’s a happier one.
Women need to accept themselves as real people, not expect the photographer to transform them into someone they would like to be. This is the difference between feeling empowered by your own real beauty, and not just living in a celebrity-fuelled fantasy.
You are beautiful because of who you are, warts and all.
Trust the photographer to capture that.
Pirate Maiden. Beautiful for both her looks and personality. No Photoshop required.
Labels: Pirate Maiden, purist
posted by Lin at 5:12 PM
7 Comments:
For the most part, I've become a processing minimalist. An image has to really grab me by the balls for me to spend more than ten minutes screwing with it. If I do spend more than 10-minutes or so processing, I still don't overly-manipulate the models' bodies, altho I'll often try to correct the ravages of really bad, malpractice lawsuit-worthy, boob jobs. I generally refrain from applying much skin processing and would rather try to create healthier looking skin with lighting techniques.
A major processing job for me would probably be 30-minutes max. Required processing (for me) mostly includes Levels, Hue & Sat, Shadow/Highlight, and Sharpening. My favorite manipulation tool is the Patch Tool. My least favorite, though I use it selectively, has become Gaussian Blur. (It's the misuse of this tool by others that's tainted my attitude towards it.)
I've also become more selective with the images I process. Out of a set of, say, one hundred images, I'll process one, two, maybe three. I've become highly critical of overly-processed skin unless it's done for OBVIOUS effect rather than attempting to reflect reality. I know shooters who would still skin-process the crap out of images of an actual Barbie Doll.
I believe a shooter/image-processor should strive for a balance between reality and the image's version of reality. Tricking viewers into suspending disbelief is the goal when processing reality into something else. Often, people over-process to the point the viewers immediately recognize the virtual "smoke and mirrors" used to attempt to trick them. Models, unfortunately, often don't care their images have been (so obviously) over processed. They want to look perfect, i.e., their version of perfection.
This is an awesome post, it sounds as if Richard and I went through similar conflicts not long ago, albeit a bit different. I am glad he is “back in the saddle” as we say here in the states. God knows I am…and charted in a completely different direction with Large Format Polaroid Photography..and Pack Film Polaroid Photography. About 90% of what I am doing now is Polaroids, Polaroid transfers and some Emulsion Lifts.
I wish I have the Photoshop skills that Richard has. I barely scratch the surface of its power by using it as a simple contrast/color adjustment tool and cropping and sizing tool. Some blemishing retouching..and sharpening..and that’s it. 20 hours on a photo?..that’s determination..and artistic perseverance…I commend Richard for having the patience to do this (I lack patience greatly…). But Photoshop has never been a “beauty” tool in my work…if anything..i have used it in the opposite direction (by some distressing and aging photos).
I understand Richards disdain of the use of Photoshop at this point in his photography…and champion this decision with him. There are many great photographers that don’t use this powerful tool…BUT there are many great photographers that do use this tool in a very artful way. Afterall..is it not the final image that matters? As Photographic Artist, we owe no truth in our photography...are we not "CREATING"?..or are we editorial? BUT…that image must be true to the artist…and sounds like Richard is on the right path to be faithful to self, and there is nothing wrong with that..photoshop or no photoshop.
Personally, I don’t care for the overuse of Photoshop. I care not for the Maxim or Stuff style of photography (and the difuse/glow look (often subtile) of the models), and the perfectly smoothed skin. Just a preference..but Im not criticizing. I was telling Kurt Hernon the other day that I love the fact that he left the sock and boot lines in his models (and I love seeing panty lines or bra lines….why others photoshop these out I will never understand).
I would like to leave a couple of Ansel Adams quotes to ponder..
"Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art."
`Ansel Adams
"No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit."
~Ansel Adams
Rock on Richard…keep true to self…that’s all that matters.
bt
Thanks for the advice guys - very interesting to compare other photographers' post-processing philosophies. And thanks too for sticking with the post. It was so long I was wondering if anyone would ever make it to the end :-)
CLIENT EXPECTATIONS: Yes, it's possible to fall into a trap where a photographer becomes slave to a look that he's promoted and known for. If you show a certain product, and people like it, then they'll want you to produce it for them. That's the natural outcome.
PHOTOSHOP: The use of photoshop for improving or even idealizing (or romanticizing, if you will) the look of a woman should be based on use. Boudoir might require heavy work to match the expectations of the intended audience.
Models run the risk of disappointing potential agents and bookers if their portfolio photos are so over-retouched that they don't faithfully represent the girl that shows up on set.
For personal, artistic purposes, it's whatever you want, of course. Porcelain nudes, or time-ravaged bodies, or anything in between that meets with your vision.
It's all about context with the choices of processing.
Let clients know what to expect, and know what they expect. Make decisions before committing time. If money's involved, charge accordingly. No one will be disappointed.
Ed Verosky
Well I had a beer instead of coffee and did finish the post. I don't shoot naked women so my comments are more general than the others.
The problem with the women is not Richard - but the media. These women see the post process images in magazines and want the same miracle.
Plus as you say in the last couple of paragraphs, about accepting themselves and they're beautiful because...is the truth. But they probably pay a shrink to deal with trying to get that kind of empowerment.
My wild ass guess and only defense I might give the women is that Richard changed his beliefs of what made a good image and how he made his images but did not educate them to those changes and that their images would not get the same extent of post processing as in the past and might not me their expectations.
Just tell them they are getting the "Mr. Fluffy Treatment" only now it's Mr. Fluffy the realist, not the illusionist.
D.L. Wood
Very rarely do I actually read posts that are about photography, I usually just skim through them and look at the pretty pictures. I read every word of this & think it was one of the best entries you've done :).
Entertaining and insightful post, Lin.
Those of us who photograph women for a living must produce what pleases them. If we don't, we'll end up with no clients or no models. It's noteworthy that Dove soap, which has a great many more resources than we do, hasn't made a dent in the endless search for flawless sexual appeal. Why? Fantasy works. And whether we achieve that fantasy with lighting, costume, pose, or Photoshop makes no real difference.
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