Photomontage refers to the art of producing a stunning piece of digital image using multiple image sources, layers, scans, or negatives and intertwining them to create an amazing photograph. In simpler terms, photomontage is also referred to as collage art or photo collage. Photomontage has been in existence ever since the early days of coinage and has been involved in combining the hand-written and printed pieces of text such as letters, newspaper, posters, instructions, journal entries, fliers etc.. The primary difference between a traditional photomontage and collage is that montage blends the sources together by diluting the opacity at the boundary. However, collage involves making use of fragments with sharp cut or torn edges that do not particularly blend well together.
Photomontage has also undergone significant change keeping up in pace with the changes in technology and science. From the early methods of doing photomontages manually using actual prints, it has now become very simple to create a photomontage using digital software on a computer such as Photoshop. Photomontage has received comprehensive impetus from the recent developments in digital graphics of channels and layers for monitoring opacity and superposition of pictures. Creating a photomontage involves telling a story, expressing the personality of the creator and taking a life on its own.
There are two basic types of photomontages – abstract photomontage and concrete photomontage. These can be created either manually or digitally. Abstract photomontages involve expressing a combination of feelings that defies reality and have a non-concrete sense to it. There is an underlying mystery in the abstract form of photomontage. A concrete photomontage, as the name implies, portrays a specific story or nature of a person, place or activity. The feelings portrayed here are more solid and it is very easy to clearly point out what the photomontage tries to depict. The art of manually creating a photomontage involves the act of cutting and pasting images to create a masterpiece photomontage. However, this process turns out to be very tedious and time consuming. Photomontages can also be made digitally using computer software such as Photoshop, Gimp etc. It involves using the photo prints and scanning them into the computer, to be included in the collage.
Manually creating photomontages requires tremendous creativity and skill as well as accuracy and preciseness in cutting and pasting images. However, making use of digital software turns out better as the computer does most of the cutting and pasting work. But, it is important to be efficient in using the software and understanding layers. The easiest way would be to avail the services of a professional photo restoration company that specializes in creating these beautiful pieces of art. All that you have to do is simply upload the pictures on the website and have the experts work out a photomontage for you. A good photomontage will truly add charm to your homes!
