Photo manipulation can be used for everything from surrealistic photomontages to the creation of alien worlds on the covers of sci-fi novels.
Photo manipulation didn’t begin with the invention of photo editing software. Photographers, editors, and retouchers have been cutting up, combining, and creating new work out of existing assets for over a century. Photo manipulation can be used for everything from surrealistic photomontages to the creation of alien worlds on the covers of sci-fi novels. “I’d call it a medium by itself,” says photographer Eduardo Valdes-Hevia. “It sits somewhere between photography, painting, and more traditional arts.”