I read this article today and it brings up a different side to the Photoshop argument. And I am offering these thoughts and this article as another way to think about this subject.
"Google the query, “how to look great in photos,” and none of them says don’t worry, just look natural."
Instead, what pops up are tips and tricks to virtually nip and tuck, tan, and botox your portraits. However, the article is not your run of the mill "Photoshop is the devil" article. This actually offers Photoshop some defense.
"Photoshop is used — and arguably abused — in fashion spreads to tweak more subtle imperfections, but it is used liberally. Teeth are whitened, tattoos are removed, pimples are erased, freckles are vanquished and, yes, arm and thighs are slimmed and spray tans are applied or removed." But I think most of us can 'fess up to the fact that we use photo filters on our Instagram and Facebook posts. How many photo editing apps do you have on your phone right now? The number of apps dedicated solely to this purpose is insane. So why is it okay for us to add filters and edit our own photos, but not okay for magazines to retouch the celebrities?
A good point that is made in this read:
"...is anyone anywhere really under the impression that any publicity photo is a raw image?"
There are lots of ways photographers and models alike can manipulate the outcome of images without even opening a photo editing application. Models can angle their bodies, photographers can utilize lighting sources and camera angles, and even the makeup, hair and styling choices can create real-life illusions without the help of a computer.
I want to be clear that I am not implicating that we should edit and fine-tune every image we take or see. I am saying that Photoshop is not going to stop, and we need to be real with ourselves about what we are seeing. We are not seeing raw images. We hardly ever see raw images unless we are the ones taking them and we see it before we do our own quick fix edit ourselves. Magazines only post the most flattering pictures of the celebrities and we don't get to see the other 900 shots of them that are un-flattering. Yet we compare ourselves to that one, chosen shot.
Sometime soon I would also like to discuss how Photoshop can be used as an art with photography, but that is another post, entirely.
- Annika Wooton
Miss Butler County 2014
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