The art of deception

I have issues with Photoshop. Not your normal, ‘Why isn’t this working?!’ kind of problem, but the issue of whether to manipulate images or not. Photoshop is an incredibly useful tool, and I’m confident using it, but I often wonder if I should be using it or not. Call me old-fashioned but I don’t like the idea of deceiving people through images in this way. I still accept photoshopped photos as an art form but don’t like to use it myself much. I feel as if I’m lying to the viewer. I always want to put a note underneath the image advising that it has been digitally manipulated.

I abhor the trend of photoshopping people to give them “perfect” skin and bodies. We are all aware of how it can promote low self esteem, yet image manipulation is acceptable practice in the industry. You could argue that makeup achieves a similar outcome, and yes it does, but it is often far easier to tell when a person has been “enhanced” with makeup than by photoshopping. I feel the same with manipulating images even without people in, for the purpose of making the photo look “better”. I suppose it depends on the context. I just prefer to get the images right first time.

I know a lot of creative people use Photoshop, but does that mean it’s right?