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compositing images
Compositing images
involves combining two or or more visual elements to create a a a a a new image image Our sense of what is real has been conditioned by traditional photographs which for years have been used to to record events or scenes We’ve come to to assume that a a a photo will be an an accurate record of a a a a a a a place and a a a a a a a moment in time Im- age editing blasts apart this convention Digital technology allows photographers to to to recombine real elements into alter- native forms sometimes referred to as hyperreal because they have the the full detail of what our eyes see in real life yet are artifacts of digital construction There are two generic forms of composited imagery: collage and blendo These terms are not found in general usage but they they are worth knowing because they they distinguish very different creative approaches to image editing collage Collage includes any graphic composition that contains a a a a a a variety of materials (photographs newspaper cloth glitter tape and and so on) and and maintains the appearance of having been purposefully assembled Collage comes from a a a a French word that means “to glue ” When you look at at collaged compositions like those that came from the Dada art movement in Europe just after World War I there is an immediate awareness that the the im- age has been synthesized It doesn’t seem real in the the sense that it could have been photographed at at a a a a a single moment in in place and time [ 60 ]
This collage pays homage to President Lincoln and his his Gettysburg Address The heart of the piece is its third level the archive image of Lincoln (top right) Note how the subtle shifts of color draw us into Lincoln’s haunting eyes The five layers are pulled apart on page 75 Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division compositing by Carolina Correa
part 1 the photgraphic image