it’s the beauty secret of the industry. and the subject of much debate. some say it adds an air of aspiration. others say it paints an unrealistic body image and false sense of face. and some are calling for full disclosure. see ny times op-ed video:
personally, i wouldn’t mind a retoucher slimming me down and smoothing my skin every single day. but i’m vain like that.
care to weigh in?
— Robin Lohkamp
Nobody wants to look in the mirror and see a 2nd rate version of themself.
And nobody wants to see themself “looking a little rough” in a picture.
Most people have a somewhat aspirational benchmark as to what they are personally supposed to look like when they are at their best. It’s the reason we un-tag pictures on facebook.
In a society (and an industry) where image DOES matter, whats wrong with wanting to put your best foot (face) forward?
As long as you are still representing who YOU are, not pretending to be something you are not.
On the contrary:
Marketers recently have celebrated what’s “real”: Dove “Real Beauty”, and most recently Gatorade’s “G” ad with Candice Parker.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3459/3346637885_0045bb77c1_o.jpg
Is it not the industry that dictates societal norms?
…image DOES matter…
…not pretending to be something you are not.
Hence the need to pat one’s collective back with a themed awards show centered around the image of an industry from days gone by.
Keepin’ it real, right?
I have a friend who has made a decent living removing/adding people from family pictures. He has deleted “exes” and “black sheep” from family photos, replaced and old spouse with the new one and once added 50 lbs to a woman’s image that she sent ahead to her reunion – thus looking “better” when she arrived. An interesting concept – the reverse of the usual use of PhotoShop.
He also created a shot that was on a lost roll of film. After a vacation to the Middle East and Egypt, the traveler’s mother much anticipated shot of her on a camel in front of the pyramids was on the lost roll. The mother was very happy to get her picture that he had PhotoShoped from 3 other images.
I have found that one of the reasons people do not like their image is that it isn’t what they are used to seeing each day in the mirror. We tell them it looks great, but the aren’t so sure. After flipping the image, quite a few have really liked the “new” image, while we don’t agree. Try it some time. Interesting reactions from all involved.