Article by BR Kellie
Every now and then a member of the design industry releases a video of the work they do. It shows us how a good-looking but far from perfect woman is made perfect – or at least what some people in the beauty industry consider ‘perfect’.
A trio of such videos was recently released onto YouTube by RARE Digital Art. I opened up the links, ready to be outraged, ready to shake my fist at those who would make us lesser mortals feel like we have so much to live up to, when in fact all women, even the supermodels, can’t attain the images of beauty that are thrust upon us on a daily basis.
But something happened. I was bodysnatched. or brainsnatched, because as I watched the retoucher remove shadows, airbrush skin, straighten lines and tidy cuticles I found myself feeling… admiration.
I was impressed. This was no evil monster trying to make me feel bad about my pimples and uneven skin tone, this was an artist at work. Leonardo da Vinci had his paints and canvas. Donatello had his bronze and wood. Retouchers have their pixels and pens, and like the artists before them, they manipulate them to create a thing of beauty.
So why the turnaround? Why am I suddenly ok with photoshopped images? I actually had to think long and hard about this, (my poor poor head) and I came to the conclusion that I’m no longer naïve about the industry. I know the images splashed on billboards, printed in magazines, and emblazoned across my computer screen are not real. I know they’re manipulated images, I know that the models used aren’t perfect – there are enough before and afters on enough gossip websites to prove it. And because I’m no longer naïve I don’t feel the need to get up in arms over it anymore, because nobody is pulling the wool over my eyes. So I’ve decided to just sit back, take it in, and enjoy the beauty – in the same way we might the Mona Lisa, or the David.
So tell me, do you see the digital alteration of pictures as evil? Do you think it’s no different to the way we add a filter to our pictures? Or are you able to appreciate the time and effort that goes into creating the images we see?
Check out the other videos in the 'series':
4 Hours of Retouching in 90 Seconds
Time-Lapse 90 Minutes of Retouching in 90 Seconds
I agree I think lots of the mystique has left the building on this one and we are all very well aware that pretty much all of the time these things aren't real. The only place I disagree with it is when the photoshopping portrays an unrealistic result from a product such as for wrinkle cream ads smoothing out lines thats where its not cool.