Well we're into philosophy here I suppose..
If you consider a photograph just the light to emulsion then as a purist virtually nothing will pass these days.
Almost everything is edited even if it's just been cropped.

That would mean however that all those terrible "snaps" that everyone has to suffer aka- "bad holiday pics", "red eyed party drunks" and "jam faced children" actually do qualify. Since the perpertrators of these "crimes" wouldn't dream of improving their photo (or reducing the number of snaps).

As a photographer and imager, I would say that a true photograph would alow editing such as tones, levels, and unsharp masks. But exclude cuts and pastes.. The latter I class as Graphic Design ground.
Unfortunately this opens my question...

When "granny's" head is pasted on to a picture of the pet dog... Have we got a budding designer or a new age slide show bore. LOL

Before anyone gets upset.. I accept that ther are good images of Parties, Children and Holidays... But we all have suffered at some time eh?

Cheers Joe :o)