Why do people in some old photos look unnaturally cut out or 'photoshopped'?
Asked 11/7/2016
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2 answers
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I found an old black-and-white photo of a logjam, and the people in it look strangely artificial—almost like they were pasted into the scene. In a modern image I might assume editing, but this is clearly an older photograph.
What photographic factors can cause that effect in old images? Could it be due to the film, exposure, contrast, lens perspective, or darkroom technique rather than people being added later?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
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I think, at least to me, that in addition to the contrast issues 'relativitaet' mentioned, the fact that the person in the foreground looks so much larger than the men in the background feels a bit unnatural. This is due, I suspect, to the photographer having used a relatively short focal length lens and having set up close to the foreground person. This leads to a perspective that's not what would be seen with the naked eye. You can see how rapidly the logs' diameters shrink with depth, for example.
Originally by user25396. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user25396
9y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—this look can happen naturally in old photographs without any later compositing.
From the answers, two main causes stand out:
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Lens perspective: If the photographer used a relatively wide/short focal length lens and stood close to the nearest person, that figure would look much larger than people farther back. That exaggerated size difference can make subjects look unnaturally separated from the scene.
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Black-and-white film tonal response: Early B&W film often rendered colors unevenly, especially greens. Foliage and moss could reproduce much darker than they appeared to the eye, increasing contrast between people, logs, and the forest. That tonal mismatch can make people look “cut out.” Colored filters could change this, but if none was used, dark background vegetation is expected.
So the effect is likely a combination of perspective distortion and tonal/contrast rendering, not evidence that the people were added later.
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