Author : Pam Morris March 15 2015
Figure 9 Dennis Stock James Dean in Times Square 1955 – Magnum Photos
The manipulation of the tonality of images using ‘dodging and burning’ techniques has been used by since the earliest days in photography. The iconic photo of James Dean in Times Square (Figure 9) demonstrates how a relatively ordinary image was transformed into an iconic image with sophisticated dark room processing.. The lines and circles on the test print on the left shows the strategies for manually dodging and burning the image under the enlarger, with numbers scattered throughout the image denoting different exposure times (Zhang 2013)[i]. Interestingly the ‘dodging’ on the right hand side final photo at the front helps disguise the visual distraction of the litter on the pavement. Issues arise when the manipulation of tonality is such that objects in the image are subjugated into the image surroundings such that they are no longer visible. This type of manipulations whilst not physically removing pixels mimics the result of actual removal.
[i] Zhang M. 2013 http://petapixel.com/2013/09/12/marked-photographs-show-iconic-prints-edited-darkroom/ Retrieved Mar 12th 2015