Re: Photo Manipulation on Hiatus in the Media

Whenever we look at models and celebrities in magazines or advertisements, most of us, if not all, always wonder why they’re so “beautiful” and “perfect”, and why an average person in society isn’t. Well, that’s because of Photoshop. Photoshop is a popular software used to manipulate and to alter images – it’s such a powerful program, that it can make photos that it has heavily distorted, look real. It’s amazing, but the media has been over using it recently to alter pictures shown in advertisements and magazines. Back then, Photoshop was only used to touch up a few blemishes here and there, but now editors use this software to make models/celebrities look flawless.

Today, most of the images shown in a magazine are photoshopped one way or another, and it’s becoming a problem. The media is setting an unattainable image of perfection, making many young girls and women to feel depressed and to have lower self-esteem. We’re all aware that these pictures have been retouched and photoshopped before they’re shown to the public, but most of us don’t remind ourselves that when we see it initially. Looking at all these heavily manipulated images, I think that it’s sad how our standards are becoming so unachievable and unrealistic. It has come to the point, that some images have been so ridiculously exaggerated, that we can tell right away that it has been heavily altered. For example (to the right), can your head actually be bigger than your waist?

In the picture above, it’s evident that the before-picture of Faith Hill has been heavily photo manipulated to fit society’s ideal image of beauty. Compared to the original photo, her eyebags are removed, she has been slimmed down, and they changed the lighting – basically everything to make her seem “perfect”. Although Faith doesn’t look completely different in the magazine cover, she does look a lot younger. Someone who normally sees Faith Hill in advertisements and magazines all the time would probably be disappointed of how different she looks in real life.

Though I’m aware that photo manipulation is wrong, and that it should be stopped, I think it’s just the way it is. The media is still going to continue to alter images in the future, even with the new trend where models and celebrities are baring their make-up free faces and saying “no” to Photoshop. The new trend may last for a little while, but it won’t last forever. Similarly, the idea of magazines and runways using “normal” people, won’t last forever either. It’s great how it addresses a positive message, but with the new trend, it doesn’t sell a product as effectively as an advertisement that has been manipulated. Photoshopped images in advertisements are often altered until they are seen as perfect, and since we all want to be perfect, a product that is in an advertisement that has been heavily altered will sell more easily. Why? It’s because we all want to be perfect, although we know what we see in the advertisement is not the same in reality. We all want to find ways to make ourselves better and more perfect. When we look at “normal” models, displaying a product in an advertisement, we don’t want it as much because we don’t see a way to better ourselves, since the “normal” model is just like us. 

To be honest, it doesn’t concern me when I look at a magazine spread that isn’t all glammed up like we are used to seeing because I’m not a person that takes the media seriously. I like to read magazines from time to time because it’s a source of entertainment. But other than that, as a viewer, I don’t think of it much. However, for viewers who do take the media seriously, I guess it would give them a break from admiring fakes, but there won’t be anything to look up to. We buy magazines, watch television, and admire them because of how perfect they are – not of how they are just like everybody else.

Picture Credits:

• http://www.boingboing.net/2009/09/29/lauren.jpg
• http://images.teamsugar.com/files/users/1/12981/29_2007/faith-hill-redbook.jpg
• http://i.cocoperez.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/v63_solve-sundsbo_04__opt__oPt.jpg