Is this photograph "faked" Grandma Palmer

[mudge]

How about a closeup of Lily for the picture album? 
Mudge

[chinakay]

Simple: Just ask Cazza to peel the face off and we'll see who's underneath

...and I bet she could just about do it, too...

[Glen in Tinsel Kni]

Right, had a reply from the person who sent the picture to me. Apparently the only touch up work was scratch removal, no other work was done on the original image.

On the left shoulder/sleeve there looks to be some work but as for the rest it is supposed to be untouched.

Glen

[PrueM]

Hi Glen,
Hmmm....it just doesn't look right, even knowing there has been a little touch-up work.
It would be really good to get a photo or scan of the print as it is - i.e. true colour, the mount that it's on, all that kind of stuff.  That's the only way of finding out really.

If the photo looks like this in reality (i.e. it is "true" black and white, and very crisp) then I can 99.9% definitely say that it's not from the 1880s/90s.  There just wasn't the technology available to make prints like that back then.

Prue

[cazza59]

Hi All

Well I'm back at work today and I can prove that this photo has been edited.  I couldn't open it at home, but I have managed to open it at work and the file contains an embbeded ICC profile.  Just for the techie minded:

An ICC profile is a file that describes how a particular device reproduces color; that is, it describes the device's color space. ICC profiles can be created for three types of devices: a display device (monitor), an input device (a scanner or digital camera), or an output device (a printer).  A profile that accurately characterizes a device gives you the best results in a color-managed wokflow.   (Just basically means there is a file contained within the document that tells your printer, scanner or monitor how to display/print the colours.)

You can embed ICC profiles into any of the following RGB, CMYK, or grayscale files saved from Photoshop 6.0 or later: .psd, .eps, .tif, .jpg, .pct, or .pdf. An embedded profile remains with the file, so the device's color space information can then be read by any ICC-aware application.


Having this file embbeded explains why a) when I first saw it on my monitor at home it was blue (obviously my home machine is not calibrated to read ICC files) and b) why when Mudge opened it was a red hue, as I had the same result at work.  Obviously both our versions of Photoshop cannot read the embbeded ICC profile correctly.

Plus Prue is absolutely correct, the photo is far too clean.   I've attached a photo as to what you would mostly likely expect this photo to look like if it had not been enhanced.

As for the head, I can see no visible signs of joins but that just means whoever did it, feathered the edges perfectly although did not get the proportions correct.

I have shrunk the head somewhat but as you can see, it still does not 'sit' right, possibly due to the absence of any neck.

Also the dress is still suspect, the detailing bothers me as does the loose fit in the waist area.

Caz

[Polldoll]

hi ...Agree with you Caz ...Definitely an imbedded ICC file.There has been a little more done than mere scratch removal methinks !! Can the person who owns it send you a scan of the picture as it is ..with no scratch removal Glen?


an intrigued Polly

[cazza59]

Hiya Poll

Happy New Year!

Would be interesting to see the untouched version.

Caz

[Tephra]

Wow Cazza, I don't pretend to understand all of the technical details, but your explanation sounds spot on.

Well done.       


Barbara             

[Glen in Tinsel Kni]

Cazza

Thanks for the reply, as a non techie it still makes sense to me.
I had a reply from the person who sent me the photo originally, copied below;

Hi Glen,

As I understand it, the photo has only had ‘scratch’ removal work done on it, and has been scanned in fairly low res.  I will try to get a higher res one to you, to do a compare.  The only notes I know of are her name.  There is a lot that looks genuine about the photo, and it seems like an awful lot of trouble to go to, to edit the photograph.

---------------------------------------------------------------

As photographs of my birth family have been very difficult to find it is a shame that this isn't an original (or lightly restored version).
 If Martha is as genuinely pretty as the photograph suggests then the untouched original must be quite a striking picture and it would be a real find if i could locate some of her in 2original" condition.

Thanks again for your time and help
Glen