Sex, Lies and Photoshop

[AcadieLibre]

I watched this earlier and just posting it so of other are interested they can see it. I will post it and once a few people have seen it maybe a discussion will follow. Unlike some of what I post this is not that long, under 5 minutes. It is about retouching and a law that they are considering in France.

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/...photoshop.html

[kat]

Very interesting!

Growing up you hear, "No model is perfect, they take out things." Never do you hear it takes different bodies and things to get that image as well. I think it's time to let the world know that this isn't real.

There are so many images out there for the youth that really do alter what is a healthy and attainable body.

I would love to see a magazine keep it real.

I just can't help wonder how it makes the most beautiful people out there feel that they aren't even good enough..they have to be altered as well. What an artifical life we live in sometimes... :(

[Ben H]

While I understand the concerns, and the fact that these magazines and images are what (girls especially) think of as "normal", making themselves feel abnormal - I can't help thinking that it's all just an extension of show business - it's about packaging, presenting and showing the image you want to show.

Very little these days is "raw". Musicians have their parts comped from multiple takes to get the best one, the guy doing the mix is adding all kinds of sweetners and dynamic interest, the mastering guy is making it sweeter still, and the CD has a front cover of the artist styled in exactly the way everyone wants - all to make a product appealing.

Films manipulate the emotional state of the viewer to tell a story, and all kinds of lighting, sound, music, makeup yada yada is employed to do that.

Fashion - no model rolls out of bed and looks "magazine ready". Actors on a stage are reciting rehearsed lines they've sweated over the delivery of, lines themselves which have been sweated over by the writer to make them say exactly what works best.

The whole point of show business is that it's a performance, it's not reality. It's a fake, a fabrication, and anyone has the right to determine how fake, or how raw, they want their works to be.

I feel for the pressures that, especially women, undergo because of the female body image. But heck, to be honest, I open up, say, any magazine with male models in and I feel fairly, er... "not-quite-model-material". But I can't blame some pictures for me not being model hot. Perhaps it's an educational issue - perhaps society should undergo more of a responsible role to educate people into what they are seeing - because it sure isn't big business that's going to take the lead here...

So I see retouching as simply a form of presentation. Obviously, like many things, including photography, how far someone takes it depends on whether it's appropriate or not - images can be manipulated severely specifically to fradulently manipulate peoples impressions, and how far you feel is acceptable depends on the individual and the particular case.

[kat]

I agree to a certain point with Ben H. Its an extension of show business.

My problem is when you have ads that promote a product and then use an image that is far from reality, I think there should be a limit. Honestly, I know it's all about money and competition but I think these companies should have a bit more responsiblity out there for that.

What comes to mind is Dove. They have that campaign where they use real woman, all ages and shapes and sizes to sell their product. To me, that is more appealing. Although it is downright scary to me that this is actually a campaign and out of the norm.

I just can't help wondering what is real anymore..

[Barefoot]

...perhaps society should undergo more of a responsible role to educate people into what they are seeing - because it sure isn't big business that's going to take the lead here...

Very well said.

[AcadieLibre]

Well I will now hop into the discussion. I agree they should credit the retoucher. I assume every photo I see has been retouched in some way, just not with models but with most photos. How many people here remove objects from a photo? Clone to cover mistakes and all the other things photographers do to deceive and make their photos look better.

I miss why this particular form of retouching is such an issue, do not parents tell their kids that marketing is just deception and they are trying to sell a product or a person.

I also hate the term real women, outside of Post or Pre OP TS's, Drag Queens, all women are real. It is marketing, they lie about everything else to some degree so why would people not just assume off the bat that they were retouched. It is not something the Government should be regulating, if people were so against it the market place would force change, people like to act upset but then why do these magazines keep selling? If people want change they can not buy the magazines or products these models are used to sell, leave the Government out of it, they intrude enough.

[Gem]

I also hate the term real women, outside of Post or Pre OP TS's, Drag Queens, all women are real. I

Since I'm sitting in a lecture right now, I'm just going to add one quick thing and then duck out! Perhaps, a better term for "real" women might be "the average woman."

[kat]

They aren't talking about the basic retouching. It's not just a zit removed. It's a women who gets bigger assest, another set of legs, even a whole new body but her head. That isn't a real woman to me.

I don't mind retouching..but there are degrees to it. If all my photos were of just my head and some other persons body..would that make me me? The woman I am? Or just a figment of my imagination.

First thing that comes to my mind is those ads for diet pills. The before and after shots. As much as we all know they aren't looking that good afterward, they still fool person after person.

I personally don't think it's about educating as much as misleading presentation of products. I think it's wrong. I think it can be harmful no matter how much you think you are educated.

[Ben H]

Is this time to mention the Photoshop Disasters blog?

Go check it out if you want to see some *horrendous* (mostly advertorial) retouching...

Quite funny as well...

[kat]

Ha ha..those are hilarious! Love the coat one