Manipulating Images

Yetholm History Society has now collected several hundred images of Yetholm thanks to the generosity of the many people who allowed us to scan their personal photographs or their postcard collections. It is remarkable how many postcards were produced showing Yetholm - and new ones are still regularly appearing. If you have any images that may be of interest to us, then we would be very grateful if you would get in touch. Thanks to modern technology postcards and photographs can be quickly scanned and the originals returned to you. Compared with the cumbersome process of taking, developing and storing images that was the norm throughout most of the twentieth century we are fortunate to have access to modern digital technology. However, it would be wrong to assume that photographs from the past are entirely honest - image manipulation took place from the beginning. The image above is from a colourised postcard dated 1906. It shows the road that leaves Town Yetholm for Morebattle. Sadly many of the trees that are shown had to be cut down after Dutch Elm Disease killed them off. Another version of the same postcard (undated) can be seen below. In this case the picture has been slightly cropped, removing the haystack (or 'pike' as it would have been called) and the individual who is shown standing in front of the gate has been carefully removed. Examination of the higher quality version of this edited image in our collection shows his ghostly presence is still just about visible, but why did anyone take the trouble to edit him out?