How do I honestly and truly feel about airbrushing?
I'm for it. Bring it on. In moderation.
This photo on the cover of a Costco Connection
magazine bothers me.
What woman says put me on the cover of a magazine
and show all my flaws? Would a little airbrushing
here of her smile lines and creases hurt?
Wouldn't we still recognize her as
Caroline Kennedy? Well...yes, we would.
We re-touch pimples on kids school pictures.
It still looks like our kid. Who needs the zits in
the picture. Do we need to remember those?
A picture is a memory. It's a time capsule.
It's there forever. We all want to be remembered
as looking fresh and rested...at our best.
So Caroline is older. She has wrinkles. We all do when
we smile. Even babies. We crease up. That's what forms
those lines after years of smiling and crying too.
(and I'll admit...gravity too...It keeps us
grounded in more ways than one.)
We have them. We earned them. We own them.
We see them in the mirror everyday.
They are there. We all know it.
I'm not saying deny the truth. But if your dress has
a tear or stain we didn't notice, would they
air brush that out? Sure they would.
When I take a photo of some work I've done and
there is some lint or misplaced junk in the photo, do
I use that retouch button in my iphoto? Yes.
I also use the "enhance" and "exposure", "sharpness" and
"de-noise" features to get the best photo.
It doesn't change the integrity of the original. It
just makes it nicer to view.
Most of my pictures of my work are pictures of
inanimate objects. They don't care.
But if I take a picture of a person and it has
a flaw or two, I fix it. It's still the same person.
They look at their best at that moment in time.
Whatever age they are.
You can't change them into babies if they are
grandparents. That would be crazy and unreasonable.
But why not bring out the best in them.
That's why folks wear nice clothes. To bring out
the best. That's why we comb our hair before we
take a picture if we have the chance.
We want the picture to reflect us at our best.
Now really...do you think this photographer and
whoever was in charge of putting this photo on the
cover really wanted Caroline to look her best?
I think not for some odd reason.
Do they think it makes a better cover?
Well not in my opinion.
Here's a really sexist remark (sorry): But I think
maybe it was a man who made that decision.
Could it be a woman who made that decision?
I would hope not. But maybe.
People can be mean to each other.
Look at all those tabloid magazines.
But this was on a Costco magazine.
Really...Costco? It's not a tabloid.
It's also not a Glamor magazine, I know that.
It's about everyday people and everyday things.
Was that what they wanted to show?
"Everyday Caroline"?
