How were power lines removed from analog photographs before Photoshop?
Asked 10/21/2019
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I know removing power lines is easy in Photoshop, but I’m curious how this was done with film photography and darkroom printing. If a print from an analog negative had distracting power lines, would they be removed in the darkroom itself, on the negative, or on the final print? What techniques were typically used?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
6y ago
2 Answers
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Not in the darkroom, but at the retouching (spotting) table.
If you're working with large format film, you can paint them out on the negative. But that's risky. Most of the time you retouch the print.
I never did any of it myself, but in college there were artists who would advertise their services in the photography department. I saw some of them in action.
They worked mainly with inks, bleach, and diluted developer solutions. Their tools were very fine tipped brushes and knives. And hands that would make a brain surgeon jealous.
My courses were journalism-based, so that was not allowed.
The big photography supply stores like B&H or Adorama still sell supplies for retouchers. So I guess there's still a market for old-school 'photoshopping'.
Originally by user46468. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user46468
6y ago
0
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Usually this wasn’t done during enlarging in the darkroom itself, but afterward at the retouching or spotting stage. The most common approach was to retouch the final print rather than alter the negative.
On the print, skilled retouchers used very fine brushes, inks, bleach, diluted developer, and sometimes knives to lighten, darken, or blend away unwanted lines. It required a very steady hand and a lot of practice.
If the image was made on large-format film, the negative itself could sometimes be painted or otherwise retouched, but that was considered risky because damage to the negative is permanent.
So the short answer is: power lines were typically removed by hand-retouching the print, not by a special darkroom exposure trick. It was essentially an analog form of what we’d now do digitally, just much slower and more skill-dependent.
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