Photoshopping controversy

Yesterday the New York Times published a ground-breaking article on the fact that magazines alter the images we see when we flip through those glossy pages. Okay, maybe not so ground-breaking, or really news, but NYT decided to write about it anyway using these pictures of Reese Witherspoon from the covers of Vogue, Marie Claire and Elle to (sort-of) prove their point:


While NYT was right that Reese looks different in each of these pictures, they commented on the things that don't necessarily have to be altered on a computer to look different when you take into consideration lighting, styling and makeup. It doesn't take a genius to know that Reese's eyes will look bluer when she's wearing something blue/they look different depending on the lighting and that she won't have dimples when she isn't smiling and I really can't find anything really different with her chin from picture to picture. Really? I don't think these are the most offensive magazine covers that have been altered with computer programs.

I think that, yeah, sometimes magazines can go overboard with their airbrushing and photoshopping, but they're not as heinous as makeup - especially mascara and foundation - ads, like these. I use that mascara and my eyelashes only wished they looked that long and curly, and I don't know about you, but I definitely do not look like that when I just wear foundation.



NYT may be right that magazines are creating an unattainable image of beauty for women everywhere, but it's not something new. The Dove campain for real beauty released a video a few years ago that says everything the NYT article does and more in less than a minute:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

If magazines want to airbrush and get away with it by being honest they can call the images photoillustrations, that's what we call photos - at most publications I've worked with - that have had more done to them than just brightening the image, working with the color balance to correct colors in the image or over-cropping. Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree with the NYT article. I do think that, to an extent, magazines are responsible for the unhealthy female body image, I just think that the article reported it wrong. This is something that magazines have to deal with all the time, and it is an issue that the NYT could have shed some new light on. I like the NYT and find them a really reliable news source, especially on in-depth pieces, but this one just didn't meet my expectations.