I’m applying for a job retouching photos for an add agency. They require 3 before / after headshots as part of the application. I retouch pictures all the time but I never do people, so I’m currently fixing up portraits of my mother, grandmother, and brother.
I’ve worked with Photoshop for 6 years now, and as a consequence I can tell when images have been altered. I pick out the modifications in magazine spreads and on billboards to amuse myself while waiting for the dentist or the bus. The practice is so universal I often assume everyone knows about it. And most people do know, on some level… I knew, even when I was little, that people with computers made changes to the pictures in my magazines.
Unfortunately, knowledge isn’t enough to protect us from everything that’s false. We are constantly assaulted with images, far to much information to analyze, and the normal, natural response is to believe them. Our brains are wired to trust our eyes, and for good reason. Until 20 or 30 years ago this kind of subtle deception was impossible - if you saw someone’s face, that was their face, no need to waste time considering.
The upshot is for each advertisement we pick apart and reject, a hundred others slip through the gate while the gatekeeper is occupied and are welcomed by the subconscious as truth. I’m lucky. I’ve spent so much time immersed in the software that I can see the deception without thinking. The rest of you aren’t as lucky, and while you may not realize it, the deception is all around you. I’d say 95% of the images in newspapers and magazines have been significantly altered (i.e. not just color correction).
As an example, lets take a look at what I’ve been working on. First the original:
And now the altered version:
Some of the changes are easy to spot. The center vase on the windowsill has been removed and the missing background drawn in (just for fun). The molding on the wall has been removed. The saturation and contrast have been increased.
Something else is going on however - something subtle and insidious - something you may not have noticed. Start by inspecting my mother’s forearm. See how the blemishes and imperfections are missing? This is called airbrushing, and is standard in every magazine shot (her face is airbrushed as well but the arm is easier to see because I did a poor job on it. I went too far and it isn’t quite believable.) Now, look at the shape of the arm. It is not just smoother but smaller as well. In fact, I shrunk her whole body, dropped her shoulder, and lifted the right side of her chest (left side of picture). All this makes her look thinner and younger.
Similar tricks were done with the face. I trimmed the sides of her cheeks and the bags under her eyes, removed many of the wrinkles and blemishes, subtly raised the corner of her mouth to give her a more pleasant look, evened out her skin tone, and softened and colored her hair. The final result is something that looks like my mother perhaps 15 years ago. I’m an amateur - someone really good could knock off 20 or 25 years.
Are these changes, these visual deceptions, harmful? It isn’t an easy question. We often discuss the impact of advertisements on body image, and though it isn’t the most important problem it is perhaps the most obvious. When we constantly see people with artificially perfect bodies we start to think of them as normal, and of course we can’t measure up, hence depression, anorexia, marital strain and sexual issues, etc.
The real evidence of harm, and in fact what set off this blog, is my mother’s reaction to her picture. She hugged me, almost started crying, and said, “It’s me, but how I’m supposed to look.” That’s what advertising does to people. I don’t know how to protect you or myself, but I at least want to make you aware, and to remind you that everything, everyone you see in an add is fake.
