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Photographer Markus Hofst\u00e4tter<\/a>, whose creative analog photography projects have been featured on PetaPixel many times<\/a>, recently tried his hand<\/a> at manual retouching using an antique retouching desk from the 19th century. <\/p>\n Although many modern photographers first think of photo manipulation software when they imagine image retouching, the idea of tweaking photos has been around long before computers. Photographic manipulation<\/a> has been around for almost as long as photography itself, and many famous early 20th century photographers were celebrated for their incredible darkroom editing skills, including Ansel Adams<\/a>. This PetaPixel story <\/a>from 2013 shows how some iconic Magnum Photos were edited in the darkroom, too. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI often hear about the \u2018good old days\u2019 when there was no Photoshop and retouching,\u201d Hofst\u00e4tter says in the video above. \u201cIf somebody tells you that, you may show them this video.\u201d He also mentions a great article<\/a> by Jocelyn Sears on Mental Floss that discusses how photo retouching worked before digital photography was invented in the late 20th century. <\/p>\n In Hofst\u00e4tter\u2019s case, he\u2019s using an antique retouching desk from the late 19th and early 20th centuries to edit glass wet plate negatives. It\u2019s an incredible device, and given its condition now in 2025, it is clearly well-made. <\/p>\n It includes multiple components, including tilting arms and adjustment mechanisms. The basic idea, as shown in Hofst\u00e4tter\u2019s video above, is that an adjustable mirror reflects light up through the back of a glass plate negative set on the top of the folding desk. The photographer places tracing paper on top of the glass plate negative while the reflected light filters through from below. The photo being retouched is from Hofst\u00e4tter\u2019s \u201cEmily Portraits of Hope<\/a>\u201d series. It\u2019s a really powerful series, and well worth checking out. <\/p>\n By using tracing paper, Hofst\u00e4tter avoids making any permanent alterations to his negative, while still being able to make an incredible final print. There appears to be a developer burn on the portrait he is retouching, and the subject has some blemishes that Hofst\u00e4tter wants to fix. While he looks like a pro, this was the first time he has ever retouched a photo using this technique. With a pencil, Hofst\u00e4tter draws over the burns and blends the gray with the color of the negative itself. <\/p>\n Then it\u2019s time to make a positive using photo paper, a salt solution, silver nitrate, and a copy frame. After it was exposed in the Sun, Hofst\u00e4tter washed the print, toned it, and fixed it. The resulting final retouched print is lovely. While the photographer admits he could improve his technique a bit, it\u2019s a really fun retouching project and a fascinating look at some of the history of photo manipulation. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hofstaetter-antique-retouching-desk-4-800x452.jpg\")
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