Is Photo Editing Cheating?

We have this debate a lot in my photography class. I teach photography as continuing education for a local community college. One of the topics that usually comes up has to do with editing.

I personally have mixed feelings on the topic. When someone shoots a photo for a newspaper, they have a completely different set of rules to follow. They can color, crop, etc, but not add or remove elements.

For myself and my own photography, I’m an artist. I’m trying to make a good image. When I shoot a house or a wedding, my job is to sell that house or capture the moment for the Bride. I may change the sky to set the mood or remove blemish from a face or distracting elements in the background.

I think my job is not to capture what I saw, but what the bride felt. I edit to convey an emotion in my photographs. I want the bride to remember what she felt when she was standing on the wall, not necessarily remember there was a cloudless or overcast day.

So yes, I edit.