Straight from the streets of New York City, its Hunter White, FPP’s Man-On-The-Street – this time he’s visiting the halls of the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art) interviewing Mia Fineman, the asst curator of the photography collection and exhibits at the MET.
“Faking It!” covers photo manipulation before the rise of Photoshop. The idea of manipulating photos is not a new thing Mia explains, as the exhibition covers everything from the 1840s when photography was starting out to the 1990s when Computers were becoming a part of the photographic process. The show starts off with the very basic manipulation where color was added to black & white images, to making multiple exposures to overcome short comings in early photographic emulsions.
Other examples of artists using the camera to create high art, using combination printing, using upwards of 30 negatives to create a composite image. The show also features photos that had been manipulated for political or ideological reasons. The most famous dates to 1871 where the photographer hired models, took their photos, then pasted the faces of the rebels of the Paris Commune and re-photographed the image and presented it as being from inside the commune.
Other images in the show have a surreal twist as the photographer attempts to show the subconscious mind, while others show the malleability of the photographic medium. Hunter, of course, asks the question, why all the photos with people looking at their own head detached from their body. Mia is more than happy to answer it, having found several examples in her research, including ones that has the subject juggling their own head, being served it on a silver platter, or even eating it for breakfast. The reason for this as Mia found out was that in the 19th century Magic Shows’ (illusionists were a major form of entertainment) , biggest illusion was the apparent dismemberment of the human form.
The show runs until January 27th, 2013, and as Hunter says, if you’re within 10 hours of New York City you need to see it. But if you’re not, the show will be heading to Washington DC, and Houston, TX later in 2013.
Original Post : http://filmphotographyproject.com/content/news/2013/01/faking-it-photo-manipulation-photoshop