Concept #1- All Media are Constructions (Retouching)

Has photo retouching gone too far?

Absolutely it has gone too far. Since retouching has been introduced, people from all sorts of professions have discovered the capabilities that make it so appealing. Its quick, and can fix anything that is not publicity worthy. Those people who use it so often need to realize how it can affect and distort the vision of beauty in the eyes of society. Young girls especially can be affected by seeing photos in the media retouched like the girl on the left in the photo provided. They believe that this girl always looks like this, and that they have to warp themselves to fit this obscured vision of beauty. They need to be exposed to media that shows the model as a real person (right picture) because in reality, this model has pimples, and her eyes aren't as shiny as they make them out to be. This is in fact the truth for many models seen on billboards and in magazines everyday.

Since I started learning about how people in the profession do intense media construction to enhance photos and videos, I definitely look at things differently. I can't stop thinking about what the model actually looks like, and even if the photo is all really her/him. In class we looked at a picture of Jennifer Aniston where some of her body parts weren't even from present day. They photo shopped in one arm, some hair and more! This is outrageous! After looking at that, it really caused me to think in the critical way I am now.

To conclude my view, yes, photo retouching is being used too extensively, it distorts the way young teens, trying to find themselves, see beauty and how they are "supposed to look" and I will be looking at advertisements in a whole different way.