May 25, 2004: Pleasant Avenue / Distortion 2
The question of whether or not to correct perspective distortion in these pictures touches on more than technical issues. It goes right to the heart of what my project is about. Am I here to represent reality around me as it is, as I see it during my travels in New York, or as the camera perceives it? I've always erred toward the first idea- the reason I'm drawn to photography is because it offers a glimpse, however fleeting, of objective reality. That was the whole reason I bought the Tilt/Shift lens, the tripod, and went back to basics about focus and depth of field. And odd as it may seem, for that reason, I've chosen to correct these pictures for perspective in Photoshop, and I may do it again in the future without mentioning it. Buildings are generally built out of straight lines, and if I can, that's how I'd like to show them to you. [Unrelated: in an effort to defray the costs of Bluejake, and to spread my work around, I'm selling a few limited edition prints in the new Bluejake store.]
I see nothing wrong with using photoshop to correct the perspective distortion. After all isn't the 55 mm lens the closest to a natural perspective that we can achieve(at least in 35 mm photoghraph)? Anything else we have to use, is a tool to create life like representations of what we see.
i think the most important thing is just that people are not distracted by things other than what you want them to see in your images. as long as you can keep em focused on what matters, it's all good.
Good luck on selling your prints! They look great. Will you be taking requests for ones from the archives?
Jake -- that first shot with the canvas against the fence -- fantastic.
Re: photoshop -- I appreciate your desire to offer an unfiltered document of a time and place. But the way I see it, correcting lens barreling is akin to correcting white balance. It ain't messing with the reality but getting bit closer to it.
in other news, i've bought a little bike to help get to some of the more outlying areas. if anyone has any ideas for neighborhoods, or wants to go out for a shoot someplace interesting at night, let me know!
I enjoyed your photographs. As far as distortion goes we see the world with those distortions, it is the mind that later convinces us that the walls, windows, etc. are parallel. Look up at a tall building, the parallel lines converge. 'Correcting' distortion is marketing, not what we really see. Distortion is a relative term.