Photographic surgery: standards in clinical photography.

The role of clinical photography in aesthetic plastic surgery requires it to set high standards for the quality of the photos taken. The comparable portrayal of a series of dynamic changes leaves little room for artefacts. Even very small variations in the pictures may cause drastic changes in the value of clinical photography in aesthetic plastic surgery. The basic variations are discussed and illustrated. It is stressed that unless stringent criteria for clinical photography are met, photographs lose their value with regard to both patients and their didactic value for surgeons. This has implications not only for the individual surgeon, but also for the art of aesthetic plastic surgery as a whole.