TCC Insights

Photoshop of Horrors

 By Joe Sweeney, Associate Creative Director

The art of retouching can be a beautiful thing – undoubtedly, it opens a lot of doors for us so-called creative types. Because of the wonders of photo manipulation, nothing is off limits in a brainstorm. Want to attach a laser cannon to the top of an economy car? That’s doable. (That’s a real suggestion from a recent concept meeting, for the record.)

But, like any powerful thing, retouching is often used for evil. If you’re interested in how human beings actually look, then you might as well never look at another magazine again. And when I think about all of the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot hoaxes, my heart breaks (still believe you’re out there, Sasquatch).

Operation Photo Rescue

By Sue White, Senior Production Designer

I came across an article some months ago in Photoshop User magazine about Operation Photo Rescue (OPR), a volunteer network of professionals that work to repair photographs damaged by unforeseen circumstances - like fires and natural disasters - at no cost to their owners.

I thought, hey, maybe I can volunteer my skills to this worthy cause, because losing a photograph that you cherish - of which you have no copy - is not a great feeling. Long before the days of digital photography, once you lost a photograph, it was gone forever. What if that photo of my brother Todd in his plaid pants and cowboy hat sitting on my grandfather’s lap had been lost? That’s a piece of your family history (and possible blackmail material) that you want to hold onto.