Photo retouching Responses

 

1. According to the video, Why would we retouch?
2. According to the article, Why do we retouch?
3. Do you believe re-touching is ethical why/why not?
4. Do you believe that re-touching can go too far, why/why not?

1. In photos, flaws are amplified so you would retouch to remove those. The job of retouching is to make people look as good as they were when they were standing in front of you. When they stand in front of you, their flaws aren't amplified like when you look at the photos. You can reduce the flaws, so that they look the way they do when you see them in person, not in the photos, but still keep the things that are apart of their look (mole, etc.).                             
2. In many cases, we retouch due to the subject wanting to be retouched. Many want their photos to be seen as perfect, but when we go too far in the retouching is where we end up with undesirable photos by the subject and the public. When there isn't any retouching, the public doesn't react well, and when there is too much, they don't react well either. When clients express that they don't want to be retouched is when we go too far.                                    
3. I believe that retouching is ethical to a certain point. When the subject of the photo wants to be retouched, it is okay to edit it up until a point so that the photo still looks real. In some cases, like nature shots, it is ethical to take out things that aren't matching the photo like telephone poles or trash when they don't affect the overall message/subject of the photo.                                      
4. Yes I believe that retouching can go too far. When we look at a retouched photo vs. the original and the message of the photo or the subject doesn't read the same, that means that the photo has been over-altered. If the photos look like a completely different person, is when it has gone too far. It is all a matter of balance between taking some flaws that the subject agrees need to be retouched, and changing what that photo looks like or who the subject is.