This is the third installment in a short series of articles on photograph handling in the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. before computer . Thefirst explainedhow picture retouching worked before Photoshop , and thesecond discussedhoaxes and fads in former photography .
Slimmed nose , banished blemishes , nipped - in waistline , and other coarse photo modifications live long before computers . At the turn of the 20th century , retouching was done by deal , with the absolute majority of the work performed directly on the negative . chicken feed plate negatives volunteer broad latitude to retouchers , who could make on them with pencils or etch into them with piercing tools . According totheComplete ego - Instructing Library of Practical Photography , a 1909 usher for set about photographers , “ The oecumenical public demands considerable body of work on the portrait negative . ”
People who lead to the trouble of have their portrait taken wanted to look adept , and photographers or specialized retouchers would alter images , sometimes drastically , to please their customer , following prevailing mind of beauty . Our cultivation still shares some of these ideals — smooth pelt , slenderness — but others might seem eccentric to a modern consultation .
1. THE HEAD
Phrenology — head bod . Image quotation : The Complete ego - Instructing Library// Public knowledge base
Turn - of - the - 100 retouchers relied , either explicitly or implicitly , on cultural ideas not just about beauty but also about how the human body is supposedly marked by personality traits . Phrenology(the pseudoscience of gauge a person ’s fiber from the size and flesh of their head ) andphysiognomy(a similar pattern of judging character establish on facial features ) influenced retouchers ’ musical theme about “ pleasing ” versus “ obnoxious ” physical features .
“ The cranium of each individual has its elevations and depressions which indicate to a great extent , if not all , the rational and moral fiber of the man , ” Clara Weismanstatedin her 1903 guide to photography and retouching . The author ofThe Complete Self - Instructing Library of Practical Photographyagreed , noting that the retoucher should realise the basics of phrenology in monastic order to be able to “ retain all of the good qualities of the someone ” and “ spay or alter the predominating undesirable quality ” when retouch portraits .
For any skeptics , the authorreassured , “ Physiognomy , phrenology and lineament reading are really sciences . ” ( They are not . ) He then offer a hypothetical scenario to convince sceptic :
Putting aside the author ’s attempt to reason the ineluctable symmetry of head - shape and facial feature film using as evidence a sketch that he drew , there ’s also the fact that the unnamed source ofThe Complete Self - Instructing Libraryseems to have copiedthese headsandother such sketchesdirectly froma 1902 book on phrenologycalledVaught ’s Practical Character Reader . What head shape show plagiarism ?
However , most retouchers were likely just trying to make their clients look more attractive , rather than trying to read their read/write head for hints of criminality . PerFinishing the Negative , such retouchers run to subdue bony “ jut ” in the skull and cultivate “ that much desired quality in a portrait — roundness . ” Luckily , grant toWilson ’s Photographic Magazine , the brow “ can be altered more than any other part of the grimace . ”
Note how the subject ’s skull has been rounded in the second photo . trope deferred payment : stop the Negative(1901 ) // Public Domain
2. WRINKLES
Gender and age were the most important considerations in determining what and how much to touch up . “ The subject has everything to do with the amount of work applied to the negative,”notedtheComplete Self - Instructing Library . “ For example , negative of senior persons , whether gentleman’s gentleman or charwoman , demand less lines to be removed than younger citizenry , and negatives of men require less retouching than those of cleaning lady , regardless of years . ”
Most retouching manuals admonish against erasing the furrow of aged people , lest they end up front uncanny . An 1881 guide to photographyobserved , “ An onetime man without line is an abnormal and ghastly object — the ‘ marble eyebrow ’ of the poet should be go forth to lit . ” In portraits of older women , however , wrinkle were sometimes almost entirely wipe out .
old woman heavily retouch . Image credit : The Practical Photographer , Dec. 1904 // Public Domain
Retouching guides concurred that distaff subjects require a laboured paw , particularly “ In grammatical case of ladies who have been observe for beauty , but whose smasher has somewhat faded,”accordingto one 1895 picture taking guide . An instructive article on retouching in the magazineThe New Photo - Miniaturenotedthat forehead line are “ agate line and chump of age or thought or interest ” and that “ In women under fifty they should generally be get rid of almost all . In men they are generally merely softened , as often state character and individuality . ” Women ’s wrinkles , apparently , do not express grapheme or individualism as men ’s do .
quondam woman ’s wrinkles , before . Image credit :
The Practical Photographer
, Dec. 1904 // Public Domain
quondam woman ’s wrinkles , after . icon credit : The Practical Photographer , Dec. 1904 // Public Domain
Mustachioed man , unretouched , over - retouched , and correctly retouched . Image credit : Photo - Era , Oct. 1919 . // Public Domain .
3. THE NOSE
olfactory organ widened and straightened . persona credit : The Practical Photographer , Dec. 1904 // Public Domain
The magazineThe Cameracalledthe nose “ the most important feature film of the face , ” but take note that it can cause trouble for retouchers , since “ its irregular shape and size generally constitute the most gross defects of the sitter ’s personal visual aspect . ”Wilson ’s Photographic Magazinecautioned againstaltering the nozzle , as “ The cast of the nose is the most essential attribute toward a good likeness . ” Of naturally , “ creative person who idealize the face , are sure to idealise the nose , ” Clara Weisman realisticallyobserved .
Nose straightened on portrait of immature mankind . paradigm credit : The Practical Photographer , Dec. 1904 // Public Domain
Victorian and Edwardian ideas of what constituted a beautiful nozzle were imbue with racial discrimination . “ The daintiness of the nose is indicated by the cultivation and advancement of the race , ” Weisman asseverate . “ The noses of the Ethiopian and the Mongol , ” she continue , are “ short and compressed ” in comparison with the nozzle of “ the Caucasian , or the white race . ”According toFinishing the Negative , “ A narrow straight line gives the core of a hunky-dory sharp - cut lineament often encounter in the English aristocracy : a broad and spreading band shows the sort of nose one would imagine to belong to to a more common eccentric of face . ” Short or broad noses indicate one was of a abject race or a low class , in the minds of many retouchers of the time .
TheComplete Self - Instructing Libraryprovided a chart of noses that the author claimed stand for to different personality trait . This chart , the authorcontended , “ enabl[es ] you to reproduce the very best character in the individual ” by minimizing parts of the olfactory organ that argue negative personality traits and build up the 1 that indicate electropositive traits .
Tableof noseshapes . Figure 1 . prescribed and Masculine ; Figure 2 . counter ; Figure 3 . Motive ; Figure 4 . Balanced ; Figure 5 . Thinking ; Figure 6 . Vital ; Figure 7 . Imitative ; Figure 8 . Erratic ; Figure 9 . Good and Bad ; Figure 10 . Looking ; Figure 11 . Commercial ; Figure 12 . Selfish and Hopeful ; Figure 13 . Negative ; Figure 14 . Feminine ; Figure 15 . Neutral ; Figure 16 . Cunning ; Figure 17 . Peculiar ; Figure 18 . Deceitful and Pessimistic ; Figure 19 . rational ; Figure 20 shows the three section of a well - balanced nozzle . range credit : The Complete Self - Instructing Library of Practical Photography
4. THE CHEEKS
“ Sophie Braslau . " mental image credit : Library of Congress// Public Domain
“ Sophie Braslau , ” close - up .
Unlike today , when YouTube video and fashion magazines predict to serve you counterfeit prominent zygomatic with contouring , turn - of - the - C retouchers saw large zygomatic on women as a defect to be minimized . “ The hollow or angular [ cheek ] express more of the masculine or muscular , ” Clara Weismanargued . The Complete ego - Instructing Libraryagreed , noting , “ The cheeks which demo a quite full and rotund outline , are normally the most pleasing and tend greatly toward embellish the face . man ’s faces , which are usually quite muscular , are , as a principle , more hollow or angulate . ”
As roundness was considered womanly , retouchers would decrease the stage of shadow under a cleaning woman ’s cheekbone byshaving away at the negative . The 1901 photographic guideFinishing the Negativeadvisedthat “ In the case of dame , it is safe to err on the side of over - embonpoint , ” whileThe Complete Self - Instructing Librarywarned , “ A high cheek - off-white suggest more of theanimal naturein the individual ; a blue cheek - off-white , which cave in by far more knockout to the face , denotesmildness of characteranda more congenial nature . ” Sharp , striking cheekbones inculpate too much force of character to be considered attractive on women , it was think .
5. THE MOUTH
Phrenology mouth shapes . Fig . 3 : a deceitful mouth ; Fig . 4 : a mouth designate strong ego - esteem and firmness ; Fig . 5 : a mouth showing strong friendly relationship , Fig . 6 : a deceitful chin ; Fig . 7 : an honest mouth and an reliable chin ; Fig . 8 : an capricious rima oris . simulacrum credit : The Complete Self - Instructing Library of Practical Photography// Public Domain
“ Ladies especially will not admit , even to themselves , that their oral cavity are large or badly shape , ” Robert Johnsonobservedin his 1895 bookPhotography : esthetic and Scientific . In her guide to retouching , Clara Weismanadvised , “ If lips are too compact and too obtrusive , they may be narrowed by bringing down the light on the upper lip and shorten the lower , narrow it . ” Of course , lips may also be too thin — a trouble because “ lips that are minute and close ” betoken a lack of affection , Weisman said .
The Practical Photographer , Dec. 1904
chiefly , retouchers were concerned with the mouth ’s worked up locution , especially any down lines or shadows , whichFinishing the Negativedubbed“objectionable from the depressed and spiritless reflexion thus give to the font . ”
6. THE CHIN
Chin dimpled chad diminish . Image credit : The Complete Self - Instructing Library// Public Domain
“ A well developed chin is a sign oflove,”according toThe Complete Self - Instructing Library , while “ A satisfying chin is the sign ofhonesty ” and “ A strong straightforward mentum is indicative of astrong spunk . ” A retoucher had the chance to amend debile chins , which was specially important for men , give that , according toClara Weisman , “ The chin is usually considered as being revelatory of voluntary action mechanism or will - power . ” As roundness was more suitable for cleaning woman , their chins and jawlines were normally given a softer curved shape .
Retouchers at the number of the twentieth century were also not sports fan of chin dimples . “ dimpled chad in the chin are most always too deep and big , ” Weismanwrote . Wilson ’s Photographic Magazine , The New Photo - Miniature , andThe Complete Self - Instructing Libraryagreed that chin dimples should be softened but not eliminated .
7. THE NECK, SHOULDERS, AND DÉCOLLETAGE
Smoothing out the décolletage . look-alike quotation : The Complete ego - Instructing Library of Practical Photography// Public domain
TheComplete Self - Instructing Libraryopined
, “ Many retouchers have made reputations , not only for themselves , but also for their employers , by the skillful manner in which they eliminate and make up a incorrect cervix and broke , giving a pleasing appearance to the subject . ” What take a crap a neck or bust “ faulty ” ? Lines or angles of any variety , it turn out .
“ In portraits of ladies indécolletégowns the bust should be absolutely smooth . All protruding pearl should be only removed,”instructedWilson ’s Photographic Magazine . consort toa writer inThe Photo - Miniature , “ The common impost is to receive what may be termed a marble or oriental alabaster refinement to the articulatio humeri , ” but while he called this approach “ a case of overdo it , ” he still assert that “ Where the bone or muscularity of a neck show they may be almost entirely remove . ”
" field of study in Décolleté , " unretouched . simulacrum credit : The Complete ego - Instructing Library of Practical Photography
" Subject in Décolleté , " retouching completed . epitome credit : The Complete ego - Instructing Library of Practical Photography// Public Domain
The synopsis of the cervix and articulatio humeri also postulate attention . “ [ V]ery few necks are absolutely formed,”lamentedThe Complete Self - Instructing Library . straightforward necks require round off , while thick cervix must be melt off , peculiarly afford that “ a large neck ” is a “ preindication of selfishness , ” according to phrenology .
As for the shoulders , they should be “ Give[n ] a graceful curve , ” with their outline “ shaved a trifle , so as to give a soft blending or round off off of the flesh . ” Retouchers during the Victorian and Edwardian periods sometimes gave fair sex ’s berm such a downward slope that it looks like something is wrong with their skeletons .
Shaving down the shoulder joint . Image credit : The Complete Self - Instructing Guide to Practical Photography// Public Domain
Retouchers were also instructed about get over segmentation , should any appear . “ In some subjects inclining to plumpness the tincture between the breasts will be pronounced,”TheNew Photo - Miniaturenoted . “ decently the shadow should be dampen so that the bust will appear neither monotonous nor egotistical , its course beautiful curve being pose by a pleasing symmetricalness of brightness level and shadow . ”
8. WRISTS AND HANDS
Retouching of hand . Image credit : The Camera
“ Frequently the curved shape of the wrist is quite angular,”The Complete ego - Instructing Librarystated — a job , as all angles are ugly — whereas “ Sometimes the carpus is exceptionally bombastic , and looks bad . ” The retoucher could remedy these objectionable wrists by plane the negative to create a slender wrist with a “ elegant breaking ball . ” The “ veins and lines on the hands ” were to be “ entirely eliminate ” for immature multitude , “ especially women , ” and to be softened substantially even for older patrons . Clara Weismanwarnedthat “ overdoing ” retouching on the men “ makes them look weak , insipid and flabby . ”
