Of all digital art methods, photo editing is the broadest spectrum with many different styles and techniques. The biggest difference between photo editing versus working with videos or GIFs is that, similar to other 2D or 3D techniques, you do not have to necessarily begin with an idea in mind. Photo editing allows room to simply experiment with style and subject matter until you find your preferred manner of photo editing.
First off, whenever you work with photography, IB prefers to see you use your own photos versus the works of others. Technically in collages and edits you can still use others’ photographs as long as you transform them into a new piece, but I still highly recommend using your own images.
For the most part there are two main ways photo editing is used in IB Art. The first is editing a photo for the purpose of using it as a piece in a larger work. For example, you can have the edited photo as a part of collage, or layer over the photo with other mediums such as paint or ink.
As an example of using a photo in a collage, I cut up an edited photo I had printed out as the base for an encaustic piece I created. Photo editing doesn’t only have to be confined to 2D work, but can be featured in 3D work as well.
The second use of photo editing in art is having edited photos stand alone as pieces in their own right. This is often a good method to add cohesion and variety to your exhibition, as well as a chance to show off your distinct photo editing style. Commonly students either edit one photo or use photo compositing to turn several different photos into one image.
The possibilities truly are endless for the types of photo edits you wish to exhibit. For an example, I combined photos of my 3D assemblage work with photos of various cities I visited into one edit. This helped to strengthen the focus of my body of work (colored string in different mediums) and highlighted that I wanted my 3D work to mimic city architecture.
Again, these are just two broad categories of ways photo editing can be used. Photo editing is a great medium to experiment with and use creatively, so don’t be afraid to think outside the box. The main thing is to find and develop your own style, just as with any other medium.
If you’re interested in looking at artists who work with photo editing, check out June Lawrence, Mani Photography, Pietro Cataudella, Drue Schnelle, Mitesh Patil, Brandon Woelfel, and Geo Leon. They all have different styles, and represent different directions photo editing can go in. My work tends to be more heavily edited, while several of these artists rely just on a few enhancements in comparison.
IB Digital Art Resources 