He worked with Kodachrome for 35 years, so with the bulk of his work, I don't think there's much question about it.
Overall, it doesn't bother me too much. They're scenics for the most part, a few things have been changed in the background, which is makes me a bit queasy, but the rest of it seems to be in processing the colours, which I think is within in the NPPA guide lines.
I was thinking of the famous shot by W. Eugene Smith of Albert Schweitzer. In it you can see in the lower right corner, there's a couple silhouetted saws. Smith dropped those in to cover up film fogging on the frame. He was also criticized for using flash bulbs to light some of his iconic portraits, something that's routine today. I was searching around for the Schweitzer photo and found this really investing interview from 1957 with Smith on the criticism he faced over his lighting and retouching.
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/03/w-eugene-smith-i-didnt-write-the-rules-why-should-i-follow-them/?_r=0
Topic: Nat Geo's Steve McCurry and photoshopping (Read 1333 times)