Pascal

Pixel Perfect


- Dangin's ability is not merely his prowess regarding Photoshop, but in a way, his talent lies even more so within his eye, and the way he can interpret a photo.
- He does not only adjust the photo to be visually attractive, but translates its emotion and message.
- Most photos in magazines are reworked in Photoshop and Dangin is behind most of what we see as perfection in an image.
- Although a major part of the photography field, Dangin is like the unsung hero. He is rarely credited in the periodical but those who put the magazine together know of him as the most talented professional in terms of working with photographers and mixing his expertise with their perspective.
- Retouchers are often labeled as too interpretive or overdoing the subjectivity of photographs, however they are also given credit for reshaping beauty and defining social expectations of anatomy.
- This, however, can be done appropriately in Dangin's case.
- The software allowing people like Dangin to change photos in such a way that the photograph will look appealing but that does not mean the photographer is particularly good.

I find Pascal Dangin to be an artist rather than a professional retoucher.  It seems that he knows how to treat a photo in a way that compliments the photographer's vision and enlightens people's opinion of tasteful beauty.  It seems that there is a conflict in what he does, in terms of defining the social standards of beauty through fixing the imperfections that only a photograph could capture, but in the article, Pascal comments on this conflict by saying something like people don't want the movie starlet to look like an average person, the public and observers of magazine photography want what they picture to be a movie star; no zits or birthmarks, but radiant skin and perfect hair.  Like the article says, don't shoot the messenger.  In other words, if the photo needs retouching, someone needs to do it, and Dangin happens to be the most talented in a way that people can appreciate.