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The importance of negatives

davidwien
March 14, 2026
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    davidwien
    Team 2038 posts
    March 14, 2026, 5:42 p.m. March 14, 2026, 5:42 p.m.
    link

    This interesting article makes the point that, unlike prints, or digital images, analog negatives were not susceptible to manipulation. The photos are also significant in that considerations of "rule of thirds" and all other academic views of how to take photos are blown out of the water.

    David

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    WolfsHead
    Members 261 posts
    March 15, 2026, 11:23 a.m. March 15, 2026, 11:23 a.m.
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    An interesting article. Perhaps not for the negatives in question but the idea that a negative cannot be manipulated is naive. Monochrome negatives, particularly large formats, could be extensively retouched - a highly skilled process as opposed to the software enhancements possible today. Sixty years ago, I had a retouching outfit by Johnson’s of Hendon (remember them?) consisting of a set of very fine brushes and set of graduated grey/black dyes. They were fiendishly difficult to use and I was never any good at it, but newspapers and magazines employed staff full-time as negative (and print) retouchers and the best were very good indeed!

    Best wishes
    A

    xpatUSA likes this.

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    davidwien
    Team 2038 posts
    March 15, 2026, 11:37 a.m. March 15, 2026, 11:37 a.m.
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    Almost anything is possible if you have adequate resources and nothing better to do; but are you suggesting that the negatives shown in the article have been subjected to this painstaking process?

    David

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    WolfsHead
    Members 261 posts
    March 15, 2026, 12:22 p.m. March 15, 2026, 12:22 p.m.
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    No - I said clearly “not for the negatives in question” - I was making the point about negatives in general…
    Best wishes
    A

    xpatUSA likes this.

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