May19
confession, photoshop, beauty
Coming Clean
This is post number three and I’m already making a confession: the head shot of me above has been photoshopped. (Gasp!) While I’d love to pretend that the images taken of me during this photo shoot portray a “naturally-radiant youthfulness,“ the reality is not quite that idyllic. The truth is that our talented photographer captured a subject who had been up late the night before working, who forgot to make time for the indulgent pre-shoot bubble bath she promised herself, and had skipped the “Make-Up for The Camera” lesson from YouTube to read to her boys instead.
Ahhhhh, but this is 2009, and anyone can look great with the stroke of a digital brush! A little highlight here, some healing tool there, and voila…I’m transformed into a perfectly-tanned, well-rested woman.
Critics might suggest that this type of practice sets unrealistic expectations for young women, but I disagree. The way I see it, the brave men, women and children who choose to step in front of the camera to share themselves with the world are acting a part. They are selling their product’s allure and fantasy to the subjective mass population with just the part of their personality that can be captured in images—I consider that a pretty lofty ambition. Consider how hard it is just to live up to normal expectations…now do it while looking naturally flawlessness 100% of the time. Ridiculous, right?
Videos like the one in this post are entertaining to me the same way that “Trading Spaces” is to me. I love a good before and after story! Of course I could watch this reel and cast shame on the beauty industry for producing ads that no person can realistically live up to. Instead, I browse my magazines and catalogs firmly grounded in understanding the difference between glamorous models in ads and the amazingly beautiful people I interact with every single day in real life.
It doesn’t bother me that editors remove wrinkles from an aging woman’s face, brighten someones teeth, or make the sky a little more blue. In the end, I appreciate the skill of the artist to know just how to bring out the best features of their subjects and provide an appealing aesthetic for the user. As for me, I’ll share my pre-edited photo sometime in the near future, and in the meantime I’m going to find time for that bubble bath.
Posted by Marcelle Turner on May. 19, 2009