Why Is Retouching Such an Unsung Skill?
Look carefully at a brilliant advertising image, and you might see a retoucher’s magic at work. Often, this final stage of post-production is where the alchemy happens in photography. From lighting consistency and reflection to subtle composition, image manipulation can create brilliant effects that can make or break a marketing asset.
Maybe you think that in today’s AI era, retouchers are disposable. Can’t the tech simply execute the tasks instead? It’s true that now, with the push of a button, AI Photoshop software can carry out simple retouching tasks at rapid speed, but it still needs a trained human eye, and hand, behind the controls. And I believe, it always will.
Outside traditional photography circles and inside the advertising bubble, great retouchers are like gold dust. So why is this still such an under-celebrated skill, when these craftspeople are in high demand?
Reimagine brand assets with retouching magic
Retouching requires both technical excellence and an aesthetic eye, and it crosses the gamut of image editing, from simply updating logos to replacing entire backgrounds, or making complex visual movements seem natural.
At POD, we have worked with brands globally - such as Walkers, Bobbi Brown and Absolut Vodka - to repurpose and enhance their creative assets.
You can composite people together within the same scene, even if they’re on different sides of the world, and add elements of fantasy and play without ever leaving the editing room. From flying to dancing midair, anything is possible when you have a great retoucher in charge.
As marketers become more eco and budget conscious, and brands and agencies reduce shoots due to time constrictions, skilled retouchers are evermore crucial to the process. Retouching is a clever time and money saver that can rework an entire shoot and make seemingly brand-new assets from existing ones. Old assets can be reworked with new products and branding, or simply receive a refresh by adding new details.
For food and drink brands, a retoucher needs wizardry and a level of skill that’s off the scale, because the product must always look delicious and mouthwatering, yet look completely realistic.
Recently, we refreshed a series of product shots for the dessert brand, Delizza Patisserie. We had to enhance the textures of the sweets to make them look more inviting, even retouching the appearance of condensation droplets on the chocolate and adding subtle highlights and shadows to emphasise layers, fillings, and toppings. We had to maintain a natural look so the desserts looked delectable, but not over-manipulated. These briefs are always a delicate balance.
In today’s industry landscape, when we’re all trying to deliver more with less, repurposing is becoming increasingly popular. So as brands look to shoot assets that have longevity, which can be easily adapted for future iterations, it will be the skilled retoucher who is sought-after to help deliver it.
Retouching: the unsung art in photography
Photographers and directors are no strangers to the limelight. But retouchers often get overlooked, going under-the-radar like the skilled seamstress in a fashion house, or a producer behind a hit song.
In film, editing became an Oscar category in 1934, but it’s still sometimes referred to as the ‘invisible art’. Yet great editing can define success or failure. A best picture nominee, without a nomination for editing, is unlikely to win. So in other words, excellence in film correlates with the excellence of the edit – and indeed, most commercial awards now include editing categories to reflect this.
A careful balance of artistic and technical skill
The same goes for photography: I believe that retouching is the unsung artform here.
In photography’s early days, circa mid 1800s, paintbrushes and razor blades were the retoucher’s tools. Now, the toolbox has been revolutionised by AI software, but an expert human operator will always be needed to control it.
In my experience, many of the best retouchers are also photographers, coming from a photography or design background. They understand the fundamentals of the artform, like perspective and colour. Often a photographer, or creative director has a favourite retoucher who they look to work with time and again. After all, this is the person who will bring the final vision alive.
I think we need to recognise and celebrate the artistic and technical skill of retouching, as one of the fundamentals of making brilliant advertising. How about more retouching awards, or credits on work? There is a wealth of retouching talent to tap into globally, and I hope we can celebrate these much under-represented post production as the brilliant craftspeople they are.
