I sure as hell wouldn't call something that can be visibly identified with your eyes and deliberately altered by known technique merely subjective. For example, I
came up with a very nice set of prints last week of a particular neg, having excellent tonal detail all the way from the highlights into the shadows, and still with
bold overall contrast; yet I still intend to reprint it using a subtle unsharp mask to tweak microcontrast ever so slightly. It's such a subtle change that a casual viewer might not even notice it under glass. But I can tell the difference. I want what I want. And no, using this methodology, I am NOT robbing Peter to pay Paul. I'm having my cake and eating it too. However, I have seen cases of just too heavy a hand using masking which became conspicuous and counterproductive. Edge effect can also be distinctly enhanced this way, but overdone, it will resemble that heavy-handed digital equivalent we see all too often.