Too Many Filters, Too Little Photography?

“Have we gone too far down the smartphone photography rabbit hole?”

- Liu Hongzuo

That was my initial reaction when I first discovered the world of photo filter apps half a decade ago. One particular app, Meitu (also known as MTXX), defied photography logic and reasoning with its impressive selfie beautification techniques. How on earth does the app apply or remove makeup to a portrait photo with nearly no point of reference? It was insane for its time.

While it was a must-have app for the better gender, I’ve also found some use for the software. Tweaks like eye bag removal and blemish cover-ups helped reduce the number of police reports made every time I uploaded a selfie to Instagram or Facebook (kidding, it was just regular user reports within the respective social media networks).

Over time, my preference for the natural and real (compounded with my extremely infrequent selfie-snapping habits) meant that I’ve cut down on using beautification apps. Snapseed, however, was still in the occasional employ for non-selfie photographs. It was meant to compensate for the reduced color vibrancy and contrast handling on my phone, as other more competitive Android models raced past it in the imaging department. The occasional sharpening helps too since phones back then didn’t have the image stabilisation capabilities found in today’s shooters.