812. With regard to “surface flaws,” is there any scenario in which various blemishes, freckles, scratches, wrinkles, graffiti, dirt etc. that are part of the scene could be removed without disqualifying the photograph from TTG?

No, that is impossible.

The resulting photograph could not qualify as TTG, regardless of how “minor” the photographer may judge those flaws on the subject to be.

Except for the side effects of TTG’s Allowable Changes, any alterations to depictions of surface flaws that are part of the scene photographed always disqualify the photograph from P2 (and thus from TTG).

Category #3 of the Allowables is clear

The allowance for fixing “surface flaws” in photographs applies only to things that are NOT part of the scene depicted.

For any “surface flaws” that are part of the scene depicted (see examples listed in the bottom paragraph here), every action described in P2 applies—

— i.e., no adding, deleting, replacing, resizing, moving, modifying, reshaping, aigmenting, or blurring except in TTG Allowable ways.