FMS403DBBeautySalmonM Digital Production x Old Methods of retouching.

Retouching has been existent since the 1860's and before photoshop, the processing and editing of photographs were much more fun and creative. On my previous course I was able to use different sources other then a digital camera such as a dark room which I loved, and I think although slower then a digital camera, made the process of picture production more worth while and exciting. Before computer programming like Photoshop, photo retouching was made with the use of things like ink, paint, using darkrooms to form together negatives with photos and also the method of double exposure.

Raymond Wardell was a talented artist, well known for his skills in photographic retouching. Wardell published his own book ( Wardell, Raymond Shortcuts to Photo Retouching For Commercial Use, 1946).Which demonstrated step by step the process and tools used to traditionally retouch photographs. At the beginning of photographic retouching, the primary majority of photographic imagery was processed into black and white, so the techniques used to retouch were mostly for that kind of colour image. Wardell's techniques and examples he shows in his book are fascinating and its so interesting to see how something that can be digital corrected in under ten minutes today, took as long as creating a intricate oil painting back then.

Here are a list of interesting ingredients and tools used to create traditional retouching, compared to simply downloading photoshop -
- 'Library paste'
-'Gelatine sheets or capsules'
-'Drawing table'
-'Retouch grey paint'
-'Rubber cement'
-Rubber Roller'
-'White water colour paint'
-'Paint brushes'
-'Photo glossy colour'
-'Absorbent colour'
(Wardell, Raymond Shortcuts to Photo Retouching For Commercial Use, 1946).

Website References discussing different retouching for certain era's -
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4723172/victorian-images-trick-photography.html
http://io9.com/the-amazing-world-of-photo-editing-before-photoshop-461170976
http://creativepro.com/scanning-around-with-gene-the-old-way-of-photo-retouching/
http://petapixel.com/2014/10/17/beauty-retouching-early-1900s-portrait-actress-joan-crawford-thats-photoshopped/