Are Doctored Images in Style?

A second prominent area of photographic manipulation in mainstream media is in fashion magazines. Many fashion magazines employ the use of stylistic photo alterations to make fashion models appear the way in which corporate executives want them portrayed. Fashion magazines routinely employ the use of airbrushing to reduce the appearance of cellulite, blemishes and other skin abnormalities, as well as cropping and further alterations that make models appear thinner than they actually are. The photographic manipulations in these magazines have overwhelmingly resulted in poor body image and unrealistic appearance expectations for its readers.


The first example I have for you is the January 2003 cover of GQ Magazine which featured a digitally slimmed actress Kate Winslet (see left). When asked to comment about the magazine cover, Winslet said that the retouching was "excessive." "I don't look like that and more importantly I don't desire to look like that. I can tell you that they've reduced the size of my legs by about a third", said Winslet.

The quote by Kate Winslet makes it evident that fashion magazines frequently manipulate images without the consent of the people they are portraying. Fashion magazines take the prerogative to alter body parts to the image they want to portray as the ideal body size/shape/colouring, etc. This type of photo manipulation has a grave effect on the hundreds of thousands of women and young girls that read these magazines every year. Instead of magazines presenting realistic body images, they depict unrealistic and unhealthy body shapes that gravely affect women's self esteem. In the instance of fashion magazines, the misrepresentation of facts through the manipulation of photos deeply effects people on a personal level.

As a second illustration of the presence of photo manipulation within the field of mainstream fashion magazines, was a Ralph Lauren ad a few short months ago. In October 2009, Ralph Lauren received a lot of (deserved) flack in the press about an advertisement featuring a stick-thin model (see right).

When asked to comment on the ad, major fashion designer Ralph Lauren admitted to "poor imaging and retouching" of a stick-skinny model used in a magazine advertisement that had set the blogosphere abuzz. A Ralph Lauren representative was reported to say, "We have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman's body," and "We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the calibre of our artwork represents our brand appropriately."

What's particularly interesting to note with this example is that the controversy surrounding the advertisement started when the blog Boing Boing posted the ad of model Filippa Hamilton with the caption, "Dude, her head's bigger than her pelvis". The blog was soon notified that Ralph Lauren would seek legal action if they did not take down the photo and comments, and a legal battle pursued.

The point of this example is firstly that fashion magazines and fashion designers do not hesitate to warp images of women to feature in their magazines and ad campaigns. Media often mold the shape of women into a stick-thin, cookie-cutter shape which has grave effects on young girls and women. Fortunately, as with the example of Ralph Lauren, blogs are beginning to take interest and serve as watch dogs to the overwhelming practice of photo manipulation in fashion magazines. The Boing Boing blog is an excellent example of a blogger, or group of bloggers, that saw the unrealistically skinny image of the model as a betrayal of truth for society, so decided to make the active assertion to make people aware of the situation. The rise of these types of watch dog blogs and bloggers helps to discredit the numerous misrepresentations in mainstream media and helps the public discover the truth. The public sphere is a better place and a more realistic interpretation of the truth because of watch dogs.