My photoshop guilt is gone-- or at least subsided-- thanks to finding a display of late 19th Century photographers called "pictoralists."
the Phillips Collection museum in Washingtron DC recently had an exhibit on their work. As more amateurs were using cameras, these high-level photographers wanted to move away from plebian reality into what they saw as something more artistic. They used a variety of techniques to create "photographs that were more like paintings and drawings than the work of commercial portraitists or hobbyists."
They even added and subtracted segments to their "originals." Gasp. Way beyond simply using different papers and chemicals. This was roughly 1850- 1940. These pictoralists were supported and joined by luminaires such as Steinglitz, but eventually were overtaken by "Modernists" who primary goals were acuity and accuracy. (Steinglitz later switched sides.) I guess this is what produced the common belief that a photograph represents reality.
I still use photoshop quite sparingly, as I want to keep faith with the "original" but feel better about the whole thang now. And it's handy for shrugging off folks who say in an accusing manner "That was photoshopped!"
Thanks old timers.
(to whose for whom this is all old hat, I apologize for my late arrival.)
