According to a critical article in Spiegel Online: "Light conditions were not the best on Tahrir Square in Cairo during the celebration of autocrat Hosni Mubarak's resignation in 2011. Such shortcomings, however, can easily be compensated for using Photoshop. 'There is much more competition among photos today,' says Klaus Honnef, a professor of the theory of photography. '(Agencies) have to outdo each other.'"

Such digital enhancement is at the center of a growing debate over how much is too much when reporting the news. Is one version less "authentic" than the other?

Read the full story, and see many other "before-and-after" examples in Spiegel Online.

Eloquent, thoughtful, compassionate — and a brilliant photographer — David Goldblatt worked hard at trying to capture the underlying "values" that created and sustained apartheid. His early black-and-white work is remarkable, and then, after apartheid ended (at least, after it was supposed to end), he started working in color and even digital images, which added whole new chapters to the ongoing stories of struggles and confusions and indiginities in South Africa. Settle in with a good cup of coffee and enjoy this 12 minute conversation with a very inspiring man.

Watch full screen for the most enjoyment! Cool and crazy...

Award-winning photojournalist Larry Towell performed a live "old-fashioned" multimedia presentation of his work to a full-house at the World Press Photo Awards in Amsterdam on April 26, 2013. He spoke, and sang songs he wrote, while he showed slides and videos of the people, places and events he has witnessed. During the performance, Towell played guitar, harmonium, saw, jaw-harp and a wind-up music box. He was accompanied by Mike Stevens on harmonica.

This is just a hand-held view from my seat in the audience. Look for a professional video of the event (including the all-important images being projected) — that will be released by World Press Photo in the coming weeks.

Paris Photo, the celebrated art fair dedicated solely to the photographic image, has crossed the ocean from Paris to Los Angeles, to expand its offerings to the North American continent. Lens Culture (a partner with Paris Photo since 2005) is pleased to offer a preview of 47 favorite picks in a high-resolution slideshow. It’s always a diverse, international mix of imagery — perfect for discerning photography lovers everywhere. Enjoy!

This is the final day for submitting photographs to win one of 21 prizes in 7 categories in the Lens Culture Student Photography Awards 2013. We've received lots of great entries from many countries around the world — but it's not too late for you to enter and win. Do it now, and you may soon be known all over the globe! There's a nice cash prize, too, for the grand prize winner.

It's a great way to kick-start a new career. The competition is open to all current photography students and graduates of photography programs since 2008. So hurry — deadline is midnight tonight, Pacific time. Enter now!

Photography students and recent graduates (since 2008) —

You still have a chance to submit your work to win one of 21 awards in 7 categories in the Lens Culture Student Photography Awards 2013.

The deadline for entries has been extended to midnight (Pacific time) on April 22, 2013.

Enter today!

All winners will gain exposure to a vast worldwide audience of photography lovers — and that's one of the best ways to give your career a huge boost.

Good luck!

About this Japanese scroll format for her new photobooks (which are objects of art, themselves), photographer Rinko Kawauchi says:

"One of the ways in which I work is to focus in on one subject and take many exposures, moving in closer. I was interested to see what it would look like to line up those images in one sequence. Ordinarily I don’t show the before and after of a final cut. But when looking at the scrolls with the images in one sequence, I can see how my eyes were moving and how my body moves. That is interesting to see, seeing the flow of my interest, unconsciously."

"The Eastern Subcontinent, which comprises Bangladesh and parts of India, is an area of exceedingly rich cultural traditions and immense diversity, and its festivals testify to this considerable wealth. They bear witness to the long histories of the many ethnic, religious, and linguistic communities who make up this unique region, and to the ways in which these various groups have influenced each other and borrowed from one another for centuries. Their largely harmonious co-presence and occasional convergence are evidence of a beautiful and intricately woven cultural fabric.

"I have attempted to consider both old and new, mainstream and eccentric, central and local in the belief that each element is equally significant to understanding the many cultures of this area. I have aspired not so much to a factual or objective totality, in and of itself impossible, but to a different sense of accuracy, a spirit of truthfulness in beauty."

— Claudio Cambon

See and read more in the latest issue of Lens Culture online now.