The final exercise of this section of the course is alteration: removing an element from an existing image. Something that was there at the time of shooting is going to be deliberately removed. By removing an object or person from an image the truth is being altered without any doubt. Just how much impact this kind of intentional subtraction has greatly depends on the context in which the original photograph was taken.

 Stalin removed political opponents when they fell from grace, the past was re-constructed. This is wrong , we rely on documents and images to understand the past and its influence on the future. Photojournalists follow a code of ethics that require their images to be unbiased and record events honestly. To deliberately manipulate these images, that purport to be  objective and record the truth , is also wrong.  

 However the art and advertising world have a different set of ethics ,is it so wrong to remove a person or  an unsightly object from an otherwise acceptable image?

I took the image below of two friends, Jack and Alex, at a party and have chosen to remove Alex from the frame. Why?

What if Jack fell out with Alex and did not want a reminder of his friendship , or perhaps a relative wanted a photograph of him on his own? By removing Alex from the photograph I have created a new reality but am I denying she exists ? The intent behind the manipulation is the key , why an individual or object is being removed is of sole importance.


Jack                                                                                                    Alex

I initially tried the Content Aware tool having made a selection of Alex using the magnetic lasso tool ----not very successful!!!



I then used the Clone stamp tool, the Patch tool , and finally the Dodge and Burn tool to tidy up with much better results.

 
Alex
Alex vanishes !!!!
Finally I added a levels and vibrance adjustment.
I think it looks ok and I am pleased with the final result.

I also used the Channel mixer to convert to a mono version. 



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