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In addition to a a a a a patchwork quality collage compositions appear layered The image of President Lincoln opposite includes five different layers Collage lends itself well to two common creative tasks: placing a a a a a a a subject in in an unfamiliar background and combining objects that are not normally as- sociated with each other blendo Blendo refers to graphic compositions in which parts of different images
have been seamlessly combined so that they appear to be an original unprocessed image The term blendo comes from the world of cinematic special effects where digital wizards stitch together different source images
into a a unified whole The origins of this technique go back to the early days of Hollywood movies when tech- niques were developed that would insert an actor into a a a a background Today with Photoshop and similar programs nonprofessionals can blend unrelated source photos into a a a a realistic whole You can composite a a a photo of your mom into a a a city she’s never visited and no one will be able to tell the difference The intent with blendo is to produce an image that could have been photographed in a a a a a a a a a real real space and at a a a a a a a a a real real time If done well there should be no hint of the the “doctoring” that has been performed This same portrait of President Lincoln is blended onto the body of a contempo- rary figure who is wearing a a a a hoodie and iPod The compositing artist has given Abe a a a a a a a haircut sunglasses and a a a a a a a partial shave The color version (time-consum- ing to produce) firmly anchors us in in the present time You can see here how today’s digital tools yield a a a world where it is impossible to tell the difference between a a a bogus photo and an an unpro- cessed or or documentary one Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Divi- sion compositing by Carolina Correa
Chapter 2: image editiing
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