The invention of photography initially marked a victory over the falsification of the image, over its glamorisation. Formal portraits of many European secular and ecclesiastical rulers have survived, alongside their daguerreotypes. The contrast is striking even at first glance, not least because the photographs are in black and white. One can achieve a similar effect simply by removing the colour from reproductions of formal portraits. In photographs, however, the effect runs deeper: those being photographed often seemed to sense that they would not appear as majestic as in paintings, and would subtly heighten their expression in an attempt to convey greater significance. The result was often faintly comic—there was a mismatch between face and context; an overblown expression, unsupported by equally grand attire, appeared rather odd.
Later, of course, aspirants to grandeur regained the ground they had briefly lost. For one thing, formal portraits began to be produced from photographs (for those with more money than taste). For another, photographers learned to create images that were just as pompous and flattering. Colour photography emerged, the profession of the retoucher developed, and a century later came AI—the most powerful retoucher of all.
29 April, 2026.