Doctored Photographs
As you are hopefully discovering, Photoshop can make you doubt what you see… by adding, deleting, changing an image, it can fool us into seeing things as they really aren’t!
Check out this one… http://www.snopes.com/rumors/crash.htm
Also, these might be worth checking out.
- http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/lavey.asp
- http://www.snopes.com/photos/iceberg.asp
- http://www.snopes.com/photos/lili.asp
Too obvious? What about fashion magazines? Surely THEY wouldn’t lie to us? Better have a look at this site and make up your own mind…
Write a comment below responding to these websites. What do you think about the use of digital image editing tools like Photoshop to modify images? How much is too much?
Copy your response into your own blog as well if you like.
Mac Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:36 am
I think this was Very Intresting, I knew that some of the pictures in magazine’s but I didn’t know that all of the pictures were!
alex Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:36 am
i think that this is how the media hooks people into thinking we all need to look a certain way. she was a normal person b4 the photo change, and no 1 woulda thought that she was that hot compared to others in the magazine, it just goes to show what ppl do to make others look good.
Checo Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:37 am
I believe that it is these peoples choice to do this. They are probebly informed about what is going to happen in the first place. If the models didn’t want the photos to be touched up then they wouldn’t do the shoot. But its the security of knowing that you can be made more handsome or beautiful then you alreasy are that makes them stay and continue.
Steph L. Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:38 am
I think that the digital editing is not a good thing when it is over used. They make people believe that you could actually look like one of the girls in the magazines when the truth is the girls in the magazines dont even exist. It is too much when you are using photoshop for the whole entire picture and the person doesnt look the same afterwards.
samantha Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:40 am
i was really surprised to see that the photo of the model was changed THAT much. i knew that photos in magazines were photoshopped to look better and make more money, but i think that theres no point in photoshopping someone so much that it doesn’t even look like them anymore.
steph j Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:40 am
For a second i actually believed those pictures, but somehow they didnt look right..and thats when i realized they were photoshoped (other than the titles..). The fashion magazine was interesting because i never knew photoshop can do all those things to make the celebrities more glamour. They’re saying that all teenagers should look like them, when really their all fake. This is also why girls/guys go anorexic, bulimic, etc to look like the celebrities when their risking their life.
M!chelle Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:41 am
I’m not really shocked by the extent they went to. I mean, if you have the ability to change the photo then why not? I’m not saying it’s a good thing either though because yes, it does promote poor body image in society. But coming from a publisher’s point of view, “perfect” sells so why not make your photo perfect? If anything I was kind of poor impressed with how much different the new photo looked, I wouldn’t have any idea how to do any of that.
kathleen fitzgerald Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:41 am
i think that some pictures are a bit “over-board”,especially with the person on top of the World Trade Centre.He is kinda dressed a bit too warmly for September and I think it would be kinda insulting to the people who lost loved ones in the World Trade Centre.With the iceburg,no boat can carry and iceberg because only 10% is on top,while the rest(90%) is at the bottom.There is no way that a boat can haul that iceburg! With the three tornados,that is impossible.
i mean,there can be three tornados,but all of them are usually separate.With the magizine,the girl looks pretty without the things done to her image on Photoshop,but she also looks pretty with it done.
lauren Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:41 am
i feel better knowing that the pictures ni the magazazines i sometimes read are not real, adn that no one can actually look that perfect. I think it is good for young girls to know that they are not supposed to look like that. I think its bad that the magazines are doing this, no matter how it helps the magazine, it is givng people bad self- esteem.
M!chelle Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:42 am
i wrote “poor impressed” instead of more impressed……what the heck :S
Phil Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:43 am
I had no idea they did this in magazines, and after seeing the difference between the real pic and the fake pic, im kinda disgusted that they went threw such lengths to do that. they practically aint the same person, its as if they creatred a completely different person and just used the origanal girl as it’s skeleton. it makes me wonder the extent they edit people’s appearances, do they do this in movies as well? i think the whole crazy media makeovers are completely ridiculous.
Meliss Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:43 am
I honestly can’t believe the certain extent people will go to for publicity… like the whole “airplane” picture could be a bit offensive to some people. 9/11 was a shocker in alot of ways and I really don’t think it would even be remotely possible that someone could get a picture like that. Anyways, they probably wouldn’t even have that much time to get out of the building because of the distance of that plane. I modeling world has truly changed. With all this technology, anyone can be a model. I think it is a good strategy in marketing and whatever, because beauty sells and we buy it. However, to alot of teenagers and even adults in the world, its sad to think that we try to persue this image, this ‘perfection’ that isn’t even real. The world is under this ‘cloud of deception’ and who knows when it’ll ever stop.
Josh Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:43 am
I think that photo shoping is fine because everyone should no that the people in the magazines are all made to look good. You shouldnt buy a product just because someone who looks appealing is in the add or photo with the product, you should but it because its a good product that you need.
katelyn Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:43 am
i found this very intesteting, although I was not surprised. In the media, you see pictures of people that look perfect, too perfect. You can only assume that people dont normally look this way. Celebrities and models that allow this are only being bad role models to younger people, who strive to be and look them. Nobody can look like this in real life.
Mr B Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:44 am
So, why don’t they just choose models that “look good” to start with? Is there really that much wrong with the way some of these models look that they need to be “adjusted”?
Why do you think this image manipulation takes place? Just because they can? Or is there some important reason behind doing it.
Do you think that people would be less inclined to buy these magazine if the modles were not photoshopped?
Caitlin S... Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:46 am
The digital editing done in the picture of the model is pretty intense since they’ve done touch ups everywhere. It’s obvious that that isn’t really how she looks yet some girls still try to look like what they see in magazines which is pretty stupid. It probably doesn’t make the model herself feel so good about herself because she knows what she really looks like and she can tell every thing that has been changed about her, because it has been seen as a flaw.
Rachel Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:50 am
I think that photoshopping every picture in the magazine is wrong. It’s showing us a different person then who they really are and that just doesn’t seem right to me. Theres no need to fix up every persons flaws, everybody has them and no ones perfect, we all no that. So why do they go through all that trouble when we’re just looking at a fake. Retouching photos for fun is different, but for the whole world to look at in a magazine is not right and may lead others to want to look like them. For some, it may be very misguiding since the person looking through the magazine may not be as pretty or handsome, so they will change their whole appearance to look like them.
Phil Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:51 am
They use famous people, for one so that people who recognize the idol, then sexify her up to make them look great, which leads to lots of people buying the magazine. not all famous people are real good looking so i think they use the fame hand in hand with the beauty for magazines. i think the main reason they edit photo’s is just beacause they can, they can make it “perfect”, they can create the “perfect” human being with no flaws, ‘cuz everyone wants to be perfect right?
Daniel Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:51 am
I think that photoshop is just somethning people use to make their magazine covers and models to look better which will make the magazine more attractive to consumers which will make the companies more money when the people buy them. And yes i do think thats wrong because it puts false hopes into people that want to look like the fake models in the magazines. However, in this world, the people who make the magazines are only concerned about the money that they will make, not the fact that peoples hopes are being crushed because they are trying to look like fake models.
sara Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:52 am
I think a little re-touching is okay, but if people decide to photoshop almost every feature of someones body, then you know they’ve gone a little too far. It’s also a bad thing for people who read magazines, and think that they need to look like the people they see in magazines, because the people in the magazine don’t really look like that in real life.
M!chelle Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:54 am
Of course it’s marketing tool, not many people would buy a magazine with just normal photos on it. It’s nice to believe “oh yeah I would definitely buy an undoctored magazine because its the right thing to do and beauty isn’t skin deep blah blah blah” but chances are that if you really do think like that then you’re not a solid magazine customer. The publishers of the magazine don’t need to satisfy those people, they need to have a constant flow of people buying the issues. Those people, as bad as it sounds, have bought into the whole photoshopped image. Whether they know it or not, they *like* seeing those fixed photos and we know this because it’s been selling magazine issues for years. Photoshop is the perfect tool for magazine editors because they can fix any photo in a matter of minutes as opposed to spending days to find the “perfect” model and even pay more money to use her/him.
Steph L. Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:55 am
they make people think that if they buy their product you will look as good as the model, or at least a bit better then you already do. The magazines choose to make the models look gorgeous so that people buy the magazine. its all just a fake.
aaaalex Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:58 am
im not at all surprised of how much change the media gave on the photo of the model. i knew that that much change was made to almost every photographs in media, and i usually realize that to myself. but from experience, i know how hard it is for almost all girls to understand this fact: “ITS ALL FAKE”. it is almost humanly impossible to own angelina jolie’s perfect cheek bones, channing tatum’s amazingly beautiful body, and of course, palmer anderson’s oversized breasts(which appear kinda gross..).
somehow people need to get through their heads that what they have is perfectly fine, and they need to learn that not everybody is the same. Ever heard of the phrase “I’d rather be hated for who i am than being loved for who im not”? its true stuff. people love the images in media for fakenesssssssssss, and the best word to describe this is “sillyness”.
Be happy with what you’ve got, because someday you’ll realize how much your body will mean to you
Phil Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 8:58 am
intresting theory M!chelle.
sara Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 9:03 am
I think they do choose models that look good, but they want the model to seem so perfect, and also make it seem believable to whoever looks at the photo.
I think that they adjust the photo so much, so that people will buy the magazine.
I don’t know if people would still buy magazines even if the people in it havn’t been photoshopped, but personally I would still buy them because the photos in the magazine don’t really interest me, I ususally buy the magazine because of the things written in it.
Caitlin S... Said,
September 12, 2006 @ 9:08 am
The models they choose already do look good, but since the technology is available to make them look “better”, the models actual image is adjusted until every shadow and little hair is “perfect”. If the images weren’t photoshoped then people at first might be shocked to actually see a real human being in a magazine, but people would eventually get used to seeing that just like they are used to seeing photoshop pictures everywhere they turn.