...but bambuka said more something like "surprise me with what could be possible". This opened a very wide range of chance.

Yes, I also proceeded from the wishes of the organizer and it was interesting to me.

But one has to face the circumstances: is it really possible to take a new photo? And what is the purpose of the photo and what the purpose of the post processing? Am I free to act or am I bound to special means?

if we talk about photography with its specifics, then we are not connected with anything, except for the technical features of our tools (cameras). The rest is done by our unique view of the world around us.

If we use the resulting frame as a base for further complicated post-processing, setting certain tasks for ourselves, then we get a certain product that can become both a work of photo art and the embodiment of some design idea, but has already lost the signs of photography.

A photograph is a trace of a stream of light on a medium, whatever it may be. I find its value only in this, whatever the result may be. In any frame I see the value of the saved moment. But in the process of processing, this value is very often completely lost.