Severly Photoshop'ed

I think the value in the campaign the makers of the video have embarked upon lies in getting people to be a little more aware of the extent of image manipulation. Getting the message out could help people realize that no one is perfect.

However, it's not going to change people's strive for perfection. Look at another form of print media: comic books and japanese manga. The artists drawing the feminine form oftentimes feed into the exaggerated ideas of sexy perfection. Everyone knows that they are merely lines on paper, but they still form ideas in people's minds as to what is supposed to be attractive (for example, lean/tone physiques, shapely breasts on women and defined chests on men, long legs and thin waists).

Then there's motion video. Accompanying every Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue is the video. You know what? Regardless of how much image manipulation ends up on the printed page, those women are still pretty darn appetizing on video... and I bet in person, too. Wasn't the Victoria Secret fashion show just a few days ago? These are reinforcing ideals and concepts in people's minds just as much, if not more so, than the photoshop manipulation that occurs. The reality is that these people are models whose diet and exercise routines are part of their professional development; the rest of us don't eat and workout full time, but are given these images (through photographs and video) that tell us that's what we're suppose to look like.

Good or bad? Well, whatever. I know I don't have Bard Pitts's good looks or fit body... but seeing those images might make me a little more concious about what I wear and give me more motivation to hit the gym.

People who develop image issues have other underlying problems in their lives. Don't blame the photograph or the artist behind an image.

As they say, those are my pennies.

Nathan wrote in post #16453979
I think the value in the campaign the makers of the video have embarked upon lies in getting people to be a little more aware of the extent of image manipulation. Getting the message out could help people realize that no one is perfect.

However, it's not going to change people's strive for perfection. Look at another form of print media: comic books and japanese manga. The artists drawing the feminine form oftentimes feed into the exaggerated ideas of sexy perfection. Everyone knows that they are merely lines on paper, but they still form ideas in people's minds as to what is supposed to be attractive (for example, lean/tone physiques, shapely breasts on women and defined chests on men, long legs and thin waists).

Then there's motion video. Accompanying every Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue is the video. You know what? Regardless of how much image manipulation ends up on the printed page, those women are still pretty darn appetizing on video... and I bet in person, too. Wasn't the Victoria Secret fashion show just a few days ago? These are reinforcing ideals and concepts in people's minds just as much, if not more so, than the photoshop manipulation that occurs. The reality is that these people are models whose diet and exercise routines are part of their professional development; the rest of us don't eat and workout full time, but are given these images (through photographs and video) that tell us that's what we're suppose to look like.

Good or bad? Well, whatever. I know I don't have Bard Pitts's good looks or fit body... but seeing those images might make me a little more concious about what I wear and give me more motivation to hit the gym.

People who develop image issues have other underlying problems in their lives. Don't blame the photograph or the artist behind an image.
As they say, those are my pennies.

they're just asking for a little honest disclosure on the Photoshopping!

watt100 wrote in post #16458810
they're just asking for a little honest disclosure on the Photoshopping!

Maybe retouchers should start getting a credit line with the photographer.

Photoshop (and other similar programs) are awesome.

I met Scott Wilson (the Walking Dead) one day and thought, "How does that guy get all the girls?"

So I opened up Photoshop to "alter" my picture slightly. Now the phone won't stop ringing.

I always find it amusing how much time people apparently have to worry about trivial issues like photoshopping ad images. Seriously??? If you are a girl and your psyche is damaged by your inability to look like an advertisement, go ask your parents why they didn't instill stronger sense of self into your fragile mind or at least teach you that you are not your fckn khakis (and all the metaphors like it).

I grew up and saw nba players dunk the ball. I can't. I see chiseled men in ads, they work very hard at being in perfect shape, it is their whole job. If you work at a grocery store or at a cubicle or are in school or are 13 years old, you don't have time to perfect your body or it is not mature enough to torture yourself anyways.

The point is, if you think you should be able to be part of the elite, whether vertical jump or perfect body, you better get off your ass and work hard at it. If you get into the top percentiles, it will be you they are photoshopping and you they are designing new PF Flyers around. Otherwise, view the world with a high amount of entertainment value and stop worrying about what you are not. The whole world is stylized and aggrandized. Learn to distinguish between fantasy and reality before you look at yourself in the mirror and then just do the best you can at whatever it is you want to do with yourself. No big deal.

Getting photoshop out of ads, what is next, natural light only in the photos? It's a bandaid to the real problem. No one is teaching these young girls to value themselves and to stop placing so much value on things they have no control over, the outside world. So go ahead and debate and analyze over this issue, it is futile. Once there is no more photoshopping ads, we can attack the next thing that makes our daughters sad, whatever it may be. So dumb, it's like arguing over what color to paint the car with a blown motor. Who cares what color it is, it doesn't even run. Get real.

I think your trivialization of the issue rests on a under-appreciation of the extent to which we are surrounded by advertising, and the extent to which our sense of what is 'normal' looking or what is 'beautiful' is shaped via unconscious processes--and often early in a person's life.

Higgs Boson wrote in post #16478901
I always find it amusing how much time people apparently have to worry about trivial issues like photoshopping ad images. Seriously??? If you are a girl and your psyche is damaged by your inability to look like an advertisement, go ask your parents why they didn't instill stronger sense of self into your fragile mind or at least teach you that you are not your fckn khakis (and all the metaphors like it).

I grew up and saw nba players dunk the ball. I can't. I see chiseled men in ads, they work very hard at being in perfect shape, it is their whole job. If you work at a grocery store or at a cubicle or are in school or are 13 years old, you don't have time to perfect your body or it is not mature enough to torture yourself anyways.

The point is, if you think you should be able to be part of the elite, whether vertical jump or perfect body, you better get off your ass and work hard at it. If you get into the top percentiles, it will be you they are photoshopping and you they are designing new PF Flyers around. Otherwise, view the world with a high amount of entertainment value and stop worrying about what you are not. The whole world is stylized and aggrandized. Learn to distinguish between fantasy and reality before you look at yourself in the mirror and then just do the best you can at whatever it is you want to do with yourself. No big deal.

Getting photoshop out of ads, what is next, natural light only in the photos? It's a bandaid to the real problem. No one is teaching these young girls to value themselves and to stop placing so much value on things they have no control over, the outside world. So go ahead and debate and analyze over this issue, it is futile. Once there is no more photoshopping ads, we can attack the next thing that makes our daughters sad, whatever it may be. So dumb, it's like arguing over what color to paint the car with a blown motor. Who cares what color it is, it doesn't even run. Get real.

Christopher Steven b wrote in post #16478925
I think your trivialization of the issue rests on a under-appreciation of the extent to which we are surrounded by advertising, and the extent to which our sense of what is 'normal' looking or what is 'beautiful' is shaped via unconscious processes--and often early in a person's life.

Did you miss this part?

Higgs Boson wrote in post #16478901
...go ask your parents why they didn't instill stronger sense of self into your fragile mind or at least teach you that you are not your fckn khakis (and all the metaphors like it)....

Higgs Boson wrote in post #16478901
If you are a girl and your psyche is damaged by your inability to look like an advertisement, go ask your parents why they didn't instill stronger sense of self into your fragile mind or at least teach you that you are not your fckn khakis (and all the metaphors like it).

I'm going to guess you don't have children. Most people who paint broad parenting strokes are usually talking out of their arse.

tkbslc wrote in post #16479174
I'm going to guess you don't have children. Most people who paint broad parenting strokes are usually talking out of their arse.

Well, I do. Two daughters. They were teenagers in the 90's - 00's. Parenting isn't easy, and sometimes it is not successful. But, the job of a parent is not to raise kids. It is to raise adults.

A parent today needs to work hard to help his/her children become well-functioning adults in a 21st century society.

In the USA, children are bombarded with all kinds of messages. If these messages are in conflict with the values you, as a parent, want to instill in your children, you have to work hard. You have to be consistent. And, you have to be transparent.

None of that, though, prevents me from occasionally talking out of my arse!

RTPVid wrote in post #16479397
Well, I do. Two daughters. They were teenagers in the 90's - 00's. Parenting isn't easy, and sometimes it is not successful. But, the job of a parent is not to raise kids. It is to raise adults.

A parent today needs to work hard to help his/her children become well-functioning adults in a 21st century society.

In the USA, children are bombarded with all kinds of messages. If these messages are in conflict with the values you, as a parent, want to instill in your children, you have to work hard. You have to be consistent. And, you have to be transparent.

None of that, though, prevents me from occasionally talking out of my arse!

Made by the last line..

RTPVid wrote in post #16479397
None of that, though, prevents me from occasionally talking out of my arse!

Ewwww. Please make sure you Photoshop it first, OK?

I retouch photos in PS regularly. I remove scars from faces, I remove wrinkles, and I remove a lot of other stuff. Sometimes, I'll use a little liquify if I feel I need it. That, and lots and lots and looooots of dodging and burning. There's nothing wrong with it in my eye.

It is, under absolutely no circumstances, an advertisement's fault for imposing "standards" upon women. In the end, it comes down to the individual who is being swayed by those "expectations" enough to want to be that way. Models are models for a reason. They are a representation, meant to be accurate, but also meant to be broad.

I think its interesting to see how happy my clients are after being heavily photoshopped. I don't often tell them the extent of the work and they don't complain. Everyone likes to look heightened.

hellopointninefive wrote in post #16509714
I think its interesting to see how happy my clients are after being heavily photoshopped. I don't often tell them the extent of the work and they don't complain. Everyone likes to look heightened.

Curious, how far do you go? Easy to understand how a client would be happy to see a stray blemish / wrinkle go away or liquefy is used to drop a few pounds, but do clients really like the extreme "Portrait Professional" look where their entire facial structure is modified and their skin is flawless?

jrbdmb wrote in post #16511270
but do clients really like the extreme "Portrait Professional" look where their entire facial structure is modified and their skin is flawless?

There's no answer to this question. I know people who love as much work as you can do. The more you can make them look like miss universe, the happier they are - and then there's the other side where people are offended if you try and doctor up their photo's at all. A particular 'blemish' is actually part of their personality to some.

I recall recently hearing of a studio that did school portraits, that did some extreme doctoring (and some bad mistakes too - - ears were missing on some of the photo's). Quite a lot of parents were very offended that the studio thought that their child required enhancement to make them look good.

It all depends on the individual client. There's no clear cut answer at all. Personally - I think the safest thing to do is ask. Then you know where you stand and have less chance of upsetting anyone.