I have been giving this topic a great deal of thought lately. When I first starting photographing people in earnest, I was very severe about everything being totally documentary. I did not touch anything in Photoshop, not a blemish, a pimple or anything. I got caught on this idea that everything had to be real. And then after listening to many photographers and pulling from my previous education, I reminded myself that there is no such thing as 'real'. Photography is by no means an objective medium. There are so many decisions that the photographer makes, which therefore plant it firmly in the subjective camp. So I started correcting certain things like blemishes, snot in kids' noses etc. I started following the "if it won't be there in three weeks then get rid of it" mentality. And I think that served me well. And for the most part I still follow it. But I am also a big believer in people looking the best that they can, but more importantly to portray them as I see them. After all, the final image is really about my relationship with the subject(s)and so my interpretation in inevitable. So more and more I have been touching up crow's feet and smile lines. Not getting rid of them altogether, but softening them. Still keeping the texture of their face intact, but not having the viewer's eye be distracted by things that have no bearing on the image. Sometimes when I open a raw image straight out of the camera I am shocked by how harsh it can be. I will look at every nook and cranny of someone's face and think, "That is NOT what they look like. At least that is not how I see them." And so I begin to ask myself which is real or which is more honest. And does REAL and HONEST matter? It's like your friend who you have know for 15 years. They say they have gained 20 pounds and you have not noticed because that is not how you see them. You have a nostalgic image of them that is clouded by memory and suffused with the inner beauty that they have. Even with my clients whom I have known merely for hours. The bond that I develop with them colors how I see their physical image.
Ultimately I have decided that I want to show people as I see them. That this is the most important thing for me. To portray their years and their wisdom, but to also let that inner beauty shine. They are not supermodels. They are not meant to be flawless. But they are all imperfectly resplendent and magnificent to behold.