I’m Not a Photojournalist

I edit photos shamelessly, and I love it. I’m not afraid to admit it, and I don’t ever deny it. Plus it’s rather obvious - I’m on YouTube every week talking about it. :-)

Some people are ok with edited photos, but others feel like it’s cheating, because it’s not documenting exactly how the scene looked. For some reason, some people believe that the camera captures exactly what the scene looked like, and the resulting image is a perfectly faithful representation of such. But as photographers, we know that isn’t true. It’s usually not even close.

Over the years I've leaned into what I consider the art of photography. I believe a photograph truly is art, and in the process I've discovered one absolute truth about myself:

I am not a photojournalist.

I don’t care to represent a scene exactly how it looked. There’s nothing wrong with doing so, but I don’t want to do that with my art. I want my photos to represent how it felt to me while I was standing there. It’s my attempt to capture the feeling of the place - not just the place.

This doesn’t mean I make it so radically different from what I actually witnessed - far from it, most of the time. But this does mean that I edit my photos to emphasize light, detail, and color, in order to make the photo more visually appealing. I remove distracting elements. I crop to ensure an improved composition.

None of this is wrong.

While photography can be documentary in nature - and there is absolutely a need for that, especially with the rampant use of AI-created imagery these days - I believe there is also a place for the art of photography, for the enhanced and beautified version of a scene.

I believe that sort of art gives us hope and inspiration. I believe people are drawn to beautiful photographs, just as they are drawn to beautiful paintings, sculptures, and the like.

I derive a lot of joy from editing a photo, from crafting the light, detail, and color to bring it to life, to engender a feeling of peace or awe in the viewer. I love the process, and my goal is to get the viewer to stop for a moment and enjoy it.

Is it 100% exactly the way the scene looked? Nope - and that’s ok.

This is not a documentary, and I am not a photojournalist. I’m an artist, and I create photographs that bring my vision of the scene to life. And I love doing so.

How do you feel about the art of photography?