Royal photographers weigh in on photo editing fiasco
Royal photographers, brothers Zak and Samir Hussein have opened up about the realities of altering royal images - including what is and isn't allowed.
"It's pretty clear what we're allowed to do – we're allowed to basically use darkroom techniques," Samir - who has also taken official portraits of members of the royal family - told 9Honey.
He then explained what darkroom techniques entail: "So what photographers in the days when they were shooting film used to do in the dark rooms.
"We're pretty limited in what we can do, it's sort of a basic crop, maybe a bit of colour correcting and that's how we edit our photos basically.
"Sometimes you look at picture and you think 'Oh, if I crop it like this, it will stand out more, this will be more impactful'. So it's usually, if I'm honest, when looking back at the picture that's taken, that's the first thing I look at – how can this be cropped to make it have the impact that it should really."
Zak, who has taken many photos of Prince Harry and Meghan as well as other royal family members agreed and said that the photographers do their best to get the shot right to reduce the need for editing.
"You try and get it right first time around when you're taking the picture," he told 9Honey.
"Ideally, you don't want to have to do too much to the picture but yeah, it's very basic what we do.
"I think cropping is really important because you're trying to find the best version of that picture, so if it means cropping in tighter to make it a nice portrait or keeping it wider to show more in what's going on in the event.
"It's pretty basic what we do to the picture because it's all about when you take the picture, you're looking through the viewfinder [and] that's when you want to get it right."
The topic of re-touching royal photos sensationally made headlines over a manipulated image posted by Kate Middleton, and has now made its way back into the spotlight following the launch of the new exhibition at The King's Gallery exhibition in the Buckingham Palace.
The exhibition which runs until October 6 has noted darkroom techniques including cropping and framing out backgrounds or brightening up levels in a few of the negatives, including one label that read: "retouching is an essential part of photography.
"Analogue retouching can occur at three stages: Modifying the negative, Manipulating the image during printing, direct retouching on the final print."
Image: 9Honey/ Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024.