When a photographer discusses how they edited photos before digital cameras and Photoshop most people tune out, either because it doesn't interest them or they have no idea what the photographer is talking about.
So perhaps they'd be better off giving a visual example of the hard work they put into printing, reviewing, dodging, burning and reprinting their photos until they'd achieved the desired results.
These three iconic images were printed by Magnum Photos' master printer Pablo Inirio, and as you can see Pablo did quite a bit of plotting and calculating before getting the final results that became a part of photographic history.
And while some photographers still use this same workflow when editing in Photoshop the fact that they don't have to keep burning, dodging and reprinting the photos until they get the desired results speeds up the editing process immensely.
-Via Gizmodo