the goldstandard
Dtouch was founded in 2005 as a trusted partner to the world’s top image makers as they navigated the shift to digital photography. For 2 decades Dtouch has remained the global leader in premium photo retouching and creative image treatments, offering the very best post production solutions to photographers, agencies, and brands across the globe.
We’re a group of like-minded thinkers from a variety of backgrounds including fine art, analogue and digital retouching, photo production, business marketing, cultural studies, and computer science. Leveraging this very special mix of expert know-how is what makes us uniquely capable of continual evolution and innovation to deliver the top creative retouching work in the business.
You've seen our work on the covers of the world’s top magazines, on billboards around the globe, in stores large and small, and across every digital platform available. We’re proud to be the long term partner to hundreds of internationally celebrated brands, as well as the 4-time winner of the LeBook Best Creative Retouching award.
Today, Dtouch has studios in New York, San Francisco, and London, and is consistently recognized as the number one choice for creative retouching in every major market. We continue to define and exemplify the gold standard in creative retouching by adapting and reshaping our approach to meet evolving client needs alongside technological advancements which allows us to apply our wholly singular vision to all digital and analogue images alike.
Let's take you to our leaders.
sebastien servel
president and creative director
Q: Which artist’s work do you always come back to? How does it influence your work?
A: Many of our photography clients request my collaboration on their creative color work. I love to work on color. I studied painting and photography at the Ecole National Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris. Henri Matisse, Bram van Velde, and Willem de Kooning are the painters who continue to inspire me with their combinations of color.
Q: Is there anything surprising about retouching as an artistic medium?
A: Even when used for the slightest of adjustments, like removing minor imperfections in an image, an expert’s eye is necessary so the image retains its authenticity and believability. But beyond that, when artfully executed retouching can be a strong tool to help express a mood, state a fact, or share an idea. Retouching can encapsulate anything from subtle color adjustments to cleaning up defaults to entirely altering an image beyond its original state.
anja becker
vice president and creative director
Q: What influences your retouching work?
A: I grew up a few streets away from Bauhaus, and though I went to school in Germany for American Studies, I always had my heart beating for art. I was working with friends on analogue photo printing, studying books, and going to museums and galleries any chance I had. I was fascinated by the emotional capabilities of photographs- they can transform and capture you in an instant. Fast forward to today – continuing to study colors, working hand-in-hand with photographers to find the perfect balance and artistic dialogue in their projects, and developing that sincere connection to the work is what makes this job exciting for me every day.
Q: What is your way of approaching a project with a new client?
A: There are always creative and organizational components to consider. When partnering with anyone our rule of thumb is to nail down the organizational side of things so the creative side can be given the space it needs to really take shape and blossom. Every one of our partners is different, and it’s very important that we take the time to understand their creative and commercial needs and goals so we can be the strongest strategic ally possible. This overall approach lends strongly to creative confidence and long-standing partnerships.
antonio pizzichino
CEO and creative director / london
Q: What do you feel Dtouch can offer that no other post production company can?
A: Dtouch, as a group, provides consistent high-end service of global reach, no matter the scale of the project. We are deeply invested in our work, and we offer a unique, individualized approach to retouching which can involve pre-production strategy, on-set work, and a variety of post production techniques that help us to efficiently deliver outstanding assets to our clients.
Q: How has Dtouch developed over the years alongside evolving post production techniques?
A: One of our principal tenets is learning - our teams avidly follow the evolution of our industry and utilize newly developed tools and techniques in our workflow. This may range from innovations that help to achieve even the sublest of aesthetic goals all the way to complex CGI and AI implementation. Everything we do is at the service of perfecting a brief, and new retouching tools allows us maximize efficiencies and reach new heights of creativity.
matthew mitchell
director of business affairs
Q: What would you like people to know about Dtouch?
A: Dtouch is well-known as the industry standard for high end luxury retouching. I’d love for people to know that while we are indeed experts in this realm, we are the proud partner of photographers, brands, and agencies on all kinds of other retouching projects. Among the wide array of clients we partner with daily, this includes accounts in tech, pharmaceutical, hospitality, corporate, automotive, retail, and e-commerce, among many others.
Q: How do you see the post production industry changing in the next 5 years?
A: It’s always evolving – it’s never stagnant! There are always new and exciting challenges, new technologies, and new ways to share and explore images, videos, and ideas. In the next 5 years production and post production will continue to evolve alongside technological advancements, with a sharper focus on inclusivity, sustainability, and well-being. What is good for us, what is good for our clients, what is good for culture, what is good for the planet? These are the questions we will be asking ourselves and working to solve.
kristen usich
CEO / san francisco
Q: How did you end up in the creative content and post production space?
A: I got my first taste of the creative process at a young age, in front of the camera. That is where I first experienced the incredible amount of work that goes into creative businesses. I knew immediately I wanted to be involved in the “rush” and “reward” of production, helping to create thoughtful, emotion-provoking imagery to reach a precise audience and act as a motor to drive brands forward toward their goals.
Q: What is unique about Dtouch’s offering on the West Coast?
A: Our specialized, innovative, and highly adaptable approach mirrors our clients’ businesses and needs in many ways. We are able to support and elevate goals given our team’s multidisciplinary strengths and abilities, and we make it a point to continually evolve as an active player in the field so we can proactively accommodate our partners in their aim to create impactful and memorable campaigns.