“Baby images airbrushed by magazines to make them more perfect”

File under: Duh! Should we be surprised?

From today’s Telegraph (UK):

Babies’ eye colour, skin tone – and even the fat creases on their arms – are altered before the images are put on glossy magazine front covers.

Politicians and industry experts described the practice as “shocking” and said it would put further pressure on parents who wanted their babies to be perfect.

Full article here.

Real Women Have Curves, Veins, a bit of Cellulite (but not Photoshop)

via Corriere della Sera

(According to Corriere della Sera, the website complex.com mistakenly published an unretouched photo of Kim Kardashian on its site. And consequently corrected the error.)

Kim Kardashian quickly responded on her site:

So what: I have a little cellulite. What curvy girl doesn’t!?

How many people do you think are photoshopped? It happens all the time!

At the same time as this Complex shoot, I was gearing up for my fitness DVD and you should see my thighs now!!! Haha!

This all motivates me to stay in the gym because my goal this year has been to get in better shape and tone up! Hard work pays off!

I’m proud of my body and my curves and this picture coming out is probably helpful for everyone to see that just because I am on the cover of a magazine doesn’t mean I’m perfect.

You can check out more behind-the-scenes pics from the shoot right here. And they’re not retouched!

Ms. Kardashian’s full post is here.

Adbusting in Berlin, Photoshop Edition

Messing with ads in subways is becoming an artform, but this “Photoshopping” of ads in Berlin takes things to the next level by creating a Photoshop interface with stickers. This is pitch-perfect adbusting right here.

via Gizmodo.

Check out the rest of the gallery on Flickr.

Some Positivity: Girls Inc. “Tell Me”

Whenever I discuss the issues of beauty, self image and the media – in a critical way – people instantly mention the Dove campaign for “Real Beauty,” invariably saying, “Wasn’t that wonderful, for a change?” Yes. And no. Because (a) it was heavily retouched in Photoshop by Pascal Dangin (b) Dove is owned by Unilever, which sells Slim Fast and the #1 skin whitening cream brand in Asia (c) the ultimate purpose of the ad is to sell a product – and smartly so, by differentiating the brand with the illusion that what they care about is real beauty (their sales shot up 700% in the UK with the – albeit retouched – Pro Age campaign showing older women). For more on Dove’s corporate hypocrisy, check out this earlier post: “An Egregious Example of Corporate Hypocrisy: Dove’s “Real Beauty” Campaign.”

Indeed, if you examine it closely, a Chomsky quote would be really appropriate regarding Dove’s “Real Beauty” (Photoshopped) campaign:

One of the ways you control what people think is by creating the illusion that there’s a debate going on, but making sure that that debate stays within very narrow margins.

Now, criticism aside, once every blue moon a campaign comes out carrying  a positive, empowering message to women with no strings attached. No products to sell. No corporate image to make-over. Just pure, undiluted positivity. It’s the case of the award winning PSAs by the wonderful organization Girls Inc.

Their YouTube page does not allow embedding the video on external sites, so click on the link below to open up the video in a new window:

Girls Inc. “Tell Me”

The first time I watched it, it almost made me choke up…

Share this video with your friends and family!

Annals of Deception: Image Retouching in Music Videos

Check this out: http://is.gd/fGoi

Advertising: “Campari’s Calendars: Fairy Tales & Tales Of Force”

Remember Jessica Alba’s heavily Photoshopped Campari ads? There are more where that came from, and Eva Mendes and Salma Hayek are in some bizarre scenarios.

via Jezebel.

Dept. of Manipulation: Ooops!

via Jezebel & Photoshop Disasters:

In the September 2008 issue of an international edition of Marie Claire, some of the staff at the top of the masthead — creative director, photo director, deputy editor, associate editor, acting features director — posed for a photo in what looks like the office conference room. They all look fresh-faced and wrinkle-free. However, as Photoshop Disasters points out, the reflection in the conference room table suggests a different reality.

And the Award for Most Deceptive Magazine Cover Goes To…

Life & Style Magazine!

Take a look:

“Jessica Alba lost 40 lbs. in three months.”

Compare the photo above with the one below:

They used the retouched photo!!!

via Jezebel.

Dept. of Manipulation: Jennifer Aniston Admits GQ Cover was “Photoshopped”

From US Magazine:

 

Yoga isn’t the only reason Jennifer Aniston looks good naked!

The actress made a confession about her sexy GQ cover when she appeared on The View on Wednesday.

“What happened to the girl next door from Friends?”Barbara Walters asked, holding up the January issue, where Aniston appears wearing only a tie.

“She’s there! Photoshopped!” Aniston, 39, replied.

 

Outrageously Deceptive Ads: VICHY Normaderm Cream

My first thought upon seeing this ad in the back of a French magazine: “You have to be kidding me!”

This is obviously a BEFORE-and-AFTER Photoshop photo, not an illustration of BEFORE-and-AFTER “I have used Vichy Normaderm“. Unless the cream erases your skin pores, that is.