More than touch-ups

Are we reduced to smoothed contours?
Photo appropriated and edited by yours truly

I realize this post may echo the one I wrote about imperfections, but I just stumbled upon an article about journalist Esther Honig's photoshopped autoportrait - that I had read a little while back - and I couldn't resist adding an opinion out there, in the ocean of opinions-about-photoshopping. Oh the Photoshop debate. Should we, shouldn't we, is it an inherent bad thing to touch up a reddish face or a lousy tan, even a crooked nose. It seems this debate is never ending. Hey I remember being little and chatting (in a very little-me manner of course) with my graphic designer uncle, and never once wondering about or debating the idea that a lady on a magazine looking thinner, tanner, firmer, would be worse than a better looking BMW on a cover.

In the flow of recent articles about photoshopping, you find the one about Lena Dunham's Vogue cover (such familiarity with Lena Dunham, I realize. You may think she's the only person I know of, but be assured of the contrary. Get worried when I start speaking about her as "Lena"), but there is always a fuss about any overly photoshopped model or celebrity. Cars and fruit as well. It even feels as though the #nofilter trend has taken this touching up concept to a new level. What is it with us and having to display only smooth, perfect surfaces? Yet, one could also ask, what is with us and a little touch-up here and there so that last night's hangover doesn't show on the photos. Both arguments make sense for different reasons, and for this reason the Photoshop debate will surely last. Nevertheless, whether we are more seduced by one argument than the other, it poses interesting questions about the human quest for beauty, especially in the digital era. And especially since the image we display of ourselves, of our beauty, is now grounded not only in real life but in the virtual sphere as well. Facebook, Instagram, but also avatars on any website. It seems we only want to display the best of ourselves, with no facial screw-ups. Sometimes it makes sense in terms of marketing (we haven't yet reached an era where imperfect things sell), but doesn't it pose multiple questions, namely in terms of cultural differences in terms of the perception of beauty.

And this is exactly what Esther Honig is attempting to highlight in her experience. Indeed, she asked about 40 graphic designers in 25 different countries to photoshop a portrait of her, giving one direction "Make me beautiful". The results are drastically different whether the autoportrait came back from Morocco or Germany, the US or Greece. And they show that the criteria of beauty of one country are sometimes unexpected. Indeed, from her portraits, the nationality of graphic designers is hardly identifiable. Even worse, her home country, the US, seems to have taken extreme measures and changed the shape of her face, but also her hair, leading up to an unrecognizable version of Honig. All in all, an interesting exercise to analyze the multiplicity of ways one can interpret beauty. And therefore the multiplicity of ways we can pursue our individual beauty. One thing remains, it does seem we all have a taste for smooth contours and pure-looking skin - thus often driving us back to our best friend Photoshop, and its touch-ups.