On Post Processing

If you think about it carefully, and for those who are fully aware of how a DSLR works, you'll most probably realise that striving for zero digital manipulation in photography is a fallacy.

Inside your DSLR is a digital sensor that replaced the old school film in film cameras. There are a thousand and one settings in your DSLR, including ISO, white balance and a whole lot of other things like b/w function, sepia, vibrant and so on. (In Fujifilm, you even get to choose Velvia or Sensia!)

When you make these changes in the camera, the camera will digitally manipulate the raw photo for you before it compresses into JPEG. If you are a strict purist, white balance changes should be made using filters, not just simply changing a setting in your DSLR, and b/w photos should be taken with b/w film.

That being said, how can people rule that there should be strictly no digital manipulations?

Thankfully, most of us are shooting in an environment which allows and even condones ridiculous post processing methods which I won't say it's technically wrong, but I do recognise the fact that it does allow creativity to thrive.

Even to rule out manipulation in negatives is a ludicrous idea.

Film can be pushed or pulled and cross processed, and when they are being transferred to print, the photographer may choose to do burning and dodging to enhance the beauty of the prints. There are many print methods too- cyanotype, argentotype, kallitype- just to name a few. Much of these processes are invented in the 1800s, as early as 1834. (Ware, 1991)

Perhaps the only way for a (insane) purist to get his picture is to have them taken on slides.