Article Summary:

Two weeks ago, Wetpixel member John Bantin started an interesting topic in our forums.  “Is it art or is it reality?”:

We learned about Photoshop and started to retouch away all those annoying grolleys that were in the water. Then mooring lines and divers inconveniently placed magically disappeared. With the skills so practised, I am now able to go back to the 500,000 snaps (no exaggeration) I have in filing cabinets and resurrect any that I care to….

However, this does mean that all my pictures are getting stylized (just like everyone else’s). I fear that they no longer represent the truth. I am not talking about exhibition or competition pictures. I am talking about the pictures that go into Diving magazines. Are they misleading in their new-found perfection?

What do you think? Is this new digital art misrepresenting reality? The camera never used to lie!

The thread has since attracted over 80 replies, and is well worth reading, if you are struggling with balancing photography as art and photography as reality.