Ramblings of a Grouch

A while ago I restored a family photo. Then I digitally coloured it. That photo is the 4th one down on this page.

Then I started wondering "Is this right?" The wooden desk may actually have been a lighter shade. Or a deep red rosewood. The little girl's shoes may not have been green. Her hair perhaps a different colour.

A little later I did the same to a photograph supplied by a friend. The subject was a horse and coach standing outside a rather grand house. And again I wondered what colour the flowers in the garden actually were, if the stonework on the house was really that shade of greyish brown. In either case there was no way of knowing because there was no one to ask.

If you visit a stately home, or a museum, the portraits hanging on the walls show elegant people, grand people, even ugly people. But they are rarely true representations of the actual person (excepting Oliver Cromwell who demanded his portrait depicted him "warts and everything") - the clothes are painted a little more colourful, the hair a little less grey, the bent nose is straightened. This was done not as an act of deceit to the viewer but rather to show the subject in as pleasing a way as possible. The paintings are not intended to be a 100% faithful record but a way of portraying the subject in a manner that is mostly factual but also pleasing to the eye.

And the same goes for photographs. Just as a black and white photo is not a strict representation of the world but can nevertheless be a pleasing interpretation, so a false colour photograph can also be a pleasure to look at even though it is really an interpretation.

And surely that is the whole point of a personal photo.

Until next time ...

.