the editable lifeform

[rm]

via zarq:

http://www.flicka.org/gotflash.html
The Swedish Social ministry has set up a website to show how retouched a magazine cover really is. Having formerly worked as a personal assistant for a professional retoucher, I got to say, none of what is seen here is out of the ordinary, and is actually relatively minor compared to some of the work I've seen done on celebrity photos.

The only reason they are better looking than you is time, money and technology. Period.

Comments

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is lovely and proves a bunch of points I've been trying to make to some people of my acquaintance. I must pinch this link and share it, too. Thanks!

[starkyld.livejournal.com]

wow. just, wow.

i feel sheltered.

[deslea.livejournal.com]

I loaded it in both Opera and IE and I just got the magazine cover with the endlessly flashing "loading" even after there was no bandwidth movement anymore. I clicked all over the picture and nothing happened. What am I missing? *curious*

[rm.livejournal.com]

I had to click around on teh image a few times before a thing loaded where I could click words in Swedish and when I did that it showed the original photo and then morphed it into how it looks on the magazine cover... everything from eye and hair color adjustments to large breasts, seriously slimmed waistline and enhanced lips.

[deslea.livejournal.com]

I think I'm just destined to not see it. I swear, I've clicked every pixel on the picture, and nothing happens. *sigh* I'd bet her arms are retouched to hell, just for one thing, though - they're completely disproportionate to her hands.

[zarq.livejournal.com]

The sad thing is... you're right. The changes they're showing are minor. :(

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

I've seen another site that does similar things, and it's simultaneously heartening and discouraging. There are people out there living with a constant feeling of inadequacy, because they haven't figured it out yet; "it" being what retouching a photograph can do.

One thing that strikes me as odd is just how retouched the photo looks on first glance. The smoothness of the hands and arms, the shading of the cheeks.

ugh

[espidre.livejournal.com]

Even if you know on the logical sense that these photos are retouched, I still think there's something inside that doesn't get it.