Is it still True ? After reading a post by fellow UHH Paul Diamond ( link below ) about 42 quotes by Ansel Adams I have this question from one of the quotes.

cedymock Loc: Irmo, South Carolina

After reading a post by fellow UHH Paul Diamond ( link below ) about 42 quotes by Ansel Adams I have this question from one of the quotes.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-711590-1.html

“Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs.” – Ansel Adams

bob7fred

As a realist painter, with oils, I would agree. I may paint from a photo, but things are changed and not necessarily as in the photo. But then Ansel didn’t have PhotoShop, or Paint Shop, or other programs that change sky and background, and remove objects, and place objects. Then a diddled picture ca be printed in high rez on good photo paper, and displayed as a photograph. So, in Ansel’s time, that was true. Today, not so much.

jimvanells Loc: Augusta, GA

Good point, well stated.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

bob7fred wrote:

As a realist painter, with oils, I would agree. I may paint from a photo, but things are changed and not necessarily as in the photo. But then Ansel didn’t have PhotoShop, or Paint Shop, or other programs that change sky and background, and remove objects, and place objects. Then a diddled picture ca be printed in high rez on good photo paper, and displayed as a photograph. So, in Ansel’s time, that was true. Today, not so much.

Quixdraw Loc: x

bob7fred wrote:

As a realist painter, with oils, I would agree. I may paint from a photo, but things are changed and not necessarily as in the photo. But then Ansel didn’t have PhotoShop, or Paint Shop, or other programs that change sky and background, and remove objects, and place objects. Then a diddled picture ca be printed in high rez on good photo paper, and displayed as a photograph. So, in Ansel’s time, that was true. Today, not so much.

Many things could be and were done in the darkroom. I have a family photo from the late 40's with Great Grandfather, Grandfather, Father, and me as a child, all sitting on the same sofa. Seamless, perfectly lighted. Problem is, the couch and room were in the U.S., Great Grandfather never was. There were numerous other techniques as well, superimposing negatives, cutting and pasting and rephotographing, etc. I once removed a girlfriend's bathing suit in a photo as a joke, quite convincing.

juan_uy Loc: Uruguay

Regardless of possibilities of editing in the dark room, photographs were trusted as "truth" before editing software become so powerful.
Same path is being followed by video....

We can't trust something as "truth" anymore if we are not sure of seeing the unedited original.

User ID

jimvanells wrote:

Good point, well stated.

Yup. Right there in the first reply.

Now, let’s melt some butter, and grate some parm and watch the resulting 10 pages roll out. The script is predictable but entertaining in a vaguely “Turner Classics” sort of way.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

bob7fred wrote:

As a realist painter, with oils, I would agree. I may paint from a photo, but things are changed and not necessarily as in the photo. But then Ansel didn’t have PhotoShop, or Paint Shop, or other programs that change sky and background, and remove objects, and place objects. Then a diddled picture ca be printed in high rez on good photo paper, and displayed as a photograph. So, in Ansel’s time, that was true. Today, not so much.

People have been manipulating photos by adding, subtracting and combining things since the 1800's, it was just more work in the darkroom.

And Adams was rated as greater in the darkroom than with a camera by many who knew him and he was GREAT with a camera. But he almost always shot his film with a plan for what he was going to do in the darkroom. It is just that most of his images are more or less true to life - that was his choice, he had the skills to do otherwise.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

cedymock wrote:

After reading a post by fellow UHH Paul Diamond ( link below ) about 42 quotes by Ansel Adams I have this question from one of the quotes.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-711590-1.html

“Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs.” – Ansel Adams

And prints are no longer excepted as evidence in most trials because they can be manipulated.
And no one, believe me, no one experimented more with darkroom manipulation than Ansel Adams.
Talk about calling the kettle black.

And, by the way, the following is from Webster, there definition of Photography.
"The word Photography literally means 'drawing with light', which derives from the Greek photo, meaning light and graph, meaning to draw."
Imagine that, or, Painting with Light would be a better definition.
So, as an artist, and a photographer, I paint with light, thank you very much.
And I will continue to do so until they prey my camera from my cold dead hands.

PS. It was NEVER true.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

cedymock wrote:

After reading a post by fellow UHH Paul Diamond ( link below ) about 42 quotes by Ansel Adams I have this question from one of the quotes.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-711590-1.html

“Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs.” – Ansel Adams

I think you can take as many pictures as you want of the Capitol Building in DC and no one would believe there is any truth there.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

traderjohn wrote:

I think you can take as many pictures as you want of the Capitol Building in DC and no one would believe there is any truth there.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

Truth is an elusive concept. The eyes and the mind can both be easily deceived. So the question is. Was it ever true?

traderjohn Loc: New York City

boberic wrote:

Truth is an elusive concept. The eyes and the mind can both be easily deceived. So the question is. Was it ever true?

'"Truth is an elusive concept" Sadly it has been bastardized over time to fit our prejudices.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

The NEGATIVES were accepted as truth. Now one has to be able to prove no manipulation. I use raw files for that occasionally.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

AzPicLady wrote:

The NEGATIVES were accepted as truth. Now one has to be able to prove no manipulation. I use raw files for that occasionally.

Another of his quotes: “The negative is comparable to the composer’s score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways.”

Applicable to the raw/jpg debate.