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Wednesday 21 March 2012

They say the camera never lies, but does it?

Posted by Lauren Marion at 3/21/2012 07:20:00 pm
My generation has grown up with the media manipulating images. Small adjustments, here and there, making a models waist smaller by a couple of centimetres or raising her eyebrows slightly. These are done in such a way that it's impossible to tell what isn't real.

Modelling is probably one of the harshest industries out there because it is all based on looks. Regardless of qualifications or personality you must be of a certain build; tall and skinny. These people starve themselves and do everything to perfect their appearance, yet it's still not good enough. For who, though? I would love to see some real looking girls on the cover of magazines. When I'm out, I see so many beautiful girls that look stunning in the flesh, without any airbrushing. So why isn't that good enough? The girls that are being airbrushed aren't unattractive without it. What kind of message does that send to young girls? Will they never be good enough either? How can an 8 year old girl understand the concept that the girls she want to be aren't real... Well, they are real but nothing like the enhanced pictures.

Demi Moore is the new face of beauty brand Helena Rubinstein. The shots for the campaign have just been released and when I first saw them, I couldn't even tell who she was because they are so overly airbrushed. Demi looks incredible for a woman of 49 and women her age would give anything to look that good, even with the recent stress she has been under but she looks nothing like herself in the new campaign.
It's quite self evident which is the airbrushed shot and which one is Demi naturally. The computer has completely rounded her jawline and she is barely recognisable, her complexion is so flawless and unnaturally youthful. Surely we should embrace ageing rather than being ashamed of it? It really is something you can't prevent and it happens to everybody, so it's hard to understand why the image is made into something absurd.

Beyoncé is known for her amazing curves but on the cover of Harper's Bazaar her thighs had been thinned so much that they were completely out of proportion with the rest of her body. 
She's probably admired as one of the most beautiful women in the music industry but if her legs were really like this it would be extremely unhealthy and it's just not achievable. 

A rather amusing example of airbrushing was Adam Levine's missing torso in Vogue. At first glance you don't necessarily notice it but with a closer look it's clear that a computer had interfered with the image.
Should airbrushing be illegal? It seems extreme but it appears to be the only way that society can move forward. Brands want to make their models look the best they can to show that their product works but surely by airbrushing the image it just causes controversy that the product obviously doesn't work. There should definitely be more restrictions so that we, the public, see more of the real thing. There's already a professional team of stylists, hairdressers and make-up artists, which the average woman doesn't have, what's the need for airbrushing too?

Dove have created a video called "The Evolution of a Model" which shows how different she looks at the beginning of the shoot and in the final photo used. This video really made me think, the difference is remarkable! 

Just remember nothing about these photos is real.



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