MANIPULATION
Photographic manipulation is any change or adjust-
ment made to the photographic image through
altering the exposure, development, printing pro-
cesses, or final image. Manipulation in the camera
is achieved through multiple exposures, using spe-
cific types of lenses that distort perception, filters
attached to the lens, and special films. Multiple
exposures are images taken on the same piece of
photographic film, and can be of two completely
different photographic scenes or of the same subject
captured in more than one way. Wide angle, tele-
photo, and photomicrography (extreme image
magnifications) alter the perception of the image
from what the human eye is capable of viewing
without such optical tools. Filters can alter how
light is projected onto the film in the camera.
Manipulation through the use of films sensitive to
other energies outside of the visible spectrum, such
as infrared film, create images based on heat and
can be combined with filters for further effects.
High-contrast film produces images that have
extreme texture and graininess, which further
manipulates the photographic image.
The photographer, through framing, cropping,
and the use of specific vantage points to define the
photographic image, also controls manipulation in
the camera. Cropping, which defines the edges of a
photographic print, can alter how an image is per-
ceived by changing basic spatial clues within the
pictorial space. Framing alters how an image is
perceived as well. Using a low or high viewpoint
will flatten an image and change how depth is
shown in the pictorial space. The same manipula-
tions that occur in a camera and with lenses can
also be created in the darkroom. Changing the lens
and the lens housing in the enlarger creates effects
such as vignetting and distortions in perspective.
Darkroom manipulations occur through deliber-
ate changes in the film developing process to con-
trols such as time and temperature and with the
introduction of specific types of chemicals. Reticu-
lation is achieved through extreme temperature
fluctuations during film development. This can
range from small cracks in the film emulsion to
warping of the entire image surface of the film.
Intensification and reduction, techniques used on
previously processed negatives, allow for areas of
the negative to be re-altered chemically. Intensifi-
cation increases the density of shadow areas on a
negative, and reducing agents can be applied to
specific parts of the emulsion to remove silver
from the image. The Sabattier effect, often incor-
rectly called solarization, exposes the film or the
photographic print to light midway through the
development process and creates a reversal of
tones in the image and a Mackie line (a thin black
line) between the dark and light areas in the image.
Cross-processing of color films (processing nega-
tive film in E-6 chemistry and positive film in C-41
chemistry) will skew the color, tonal, and contrast
range of the film. Retouching with chemicals such
as Red Cocaine or spotting dye can further alter
film, and the emulsion can be scratched or etched
from the film’s surface with a variety of tools.
The darkroom process allows manipulations to
occur during printing such as burning (adding time
or intensity to a specific area to increase density),
dodging (removing time or intensity from a specific
area to decrease density), flashing (applying an
intense burst of light to the image), diffusing the
light projected through the enlarger with filters or
other materials, and masking areas of the print with
various types of filters or acetate. Contrast filters,
placed in the enlarger and used with variable con-
trast black-and-white printing paper, can manipulate
the contrast range. High-contrast printing is done
through a process known as posterization, which
reduces the continuous-tone image to a range of
only a few tones. Multiple negatives may be pro-
duced for each tone, and printed together on the
same sheet of paper. Specific films and graded
paper will also produce effects that manipulate the
normal tonal range of an image. Manipulation of the
negative in the enlarger, such as sandwiching more
than one image, will combine all involved negatives
into one composite image. This can also be done
through multiple printing, which projects individual
negatives onto one sheet of paper. Photograms elim-
inate the negative altogether, and are created by
placing objects on top of a sheet of photographic
paper much like a contact print. Negative prints use
the paper print of an image as the negative and
produce a reversal of the tones. The digital dark-
room of programs such as Adobe Photoshop allowsMANIPULATION