Before and After Pictures Shared By A Photographer After She Was Accused Of Using Too Much Photoshop

Photographer Lilia Alvarado likes to capture the whimsical and carefree moments of childhood. Her incomparable passion for photography started after she gave birth to her twin daughters, Annabella and Juliette. These two are often the subjects of her beautiful fine art portraits.

However, when Alvarado posted a picture she was proud of on her Instagram, she was shocked to receive comments which questioned if it was over-edited. Since then, the photographer has made it her mission to raise awareness regarding the history of photography by challenging the preconceptions of photo manipulation. To do so, she has revealed side-by-side photos of her shots before and after she edited them.

The earliest known photograph is considered to have been shot by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826. The French inventor used heliography, a technique whereby a glass or metal surface used to be coated in an asphalt named Bitumen of Judea. The liquid hardened in the brightest areas, whilst the unhardened bitumen was washed away, leaving the photographic imprint behind. Since then, image manipulation has become a key part of photography, as 19th-century photographers painted directly onto glass-plate negatives in order to remove imperfections and sometimes even painted entire people or elements out of the shot.

Nowadays, photographers continue to manipulate their photographs, but rather than painting directly onto their negatives, modern technology lets them use digital software like Photoshop. From cropping to adjusting the contrast, these digital editing tools help visualize a story.

Find more from Alvarado’s portfolio on her Instagram page, and scroll down to see her pics pre- and post-Photoshop.