Faux-tography

"No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted"

This quote stood out to me during our week 4 lecture of Picture Stories. I was really interested in the photoshop section; as a teenage girl I am surrounded by the constant pressure to look 'perfect.' So with the question of whether photoshop is good or evil, I struggled to find any positive points for it.

Celebrities are under so much pressure to look effortlessly perfect. We all know they do put in a lot of effort, though. When a star is snapped without make-up it is front-page news, with us judging their baggy eyelids or the two miniscule pimples on their chin. If they already feel this much pressure to meet with the public's standards, what must it to do their self-esteem with 'faux-tography' cutting, cropping, and re-colouring their photos?

I've never really thought of it from their point of view before. However, in the lecture when we were shown the photoshopped pictures of role-models Taylor Swift (below - what the..?) and Beyonce.

I couldn't understand why these already beautiful girls would need any enhancements in their photos. If they couldn't meet the unreachable beauty standards, what chance do the rest of us have?

We are swallowed up in an unrealistic world. Magazines are not required to state whether a picture has been photoshopped. Unless the subject is brought to our attention, we believe the photographs we see are real.

These fake, edited faces are what society wants to look like - who society want to be.

This has an unhealthy influence on girls worldwide, and after thinking about it, I'd just rather be me.

Until next time.