Bad photo retouching is not the subject of
this article. Sometimes we read articles that talk about banning retouching or
rumors that some brands or companies are going to get it banned from their
advertising. If we dig deeper into the very reasons for such a decision, we should
ban many other processes involved in the crafting of
commercial imagery.
The last few years
I've read a number of stories about fashion brands, model agencies, magazines
and such, that decide to ban the digital processing of the photographs they use
for their marketing. Some apply that restriction (or at least say so), others
try it temporarily, while others withdraw their decision.
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What is Photo Retouching Supposed to Do?
Why is retouching
banned? Because it alters the subject. I am not talking about aggressive use of
the Liquify tool or making the skin look like plastic. Good retouching is meant
to remove the temporary imperfections that in other cases may not be there, could
not be achieved in camera, or was too expensive or time-consuming to get them
right in camera.
Why Not Ban Others
That Do the Same?
If we want to ban the
digital process of removing imperfections, why don't we ban makeup artists?
They do exactly the same, but in the physical world. They are able to change
the shape of the face with a few brush strokes, to conceal blemishes or
introduce such. They can change the shape of the eyes using optical illusion
techniques. That sounds to me like an aggressive use of the Liquify tool in
Photoshop.
What about hair
stylists? They know how to make the face look thinner or wider by the way hair
shapes around it. Do we want to ban them too?
What about
cinematographers and photographers? They know how to light and frame a subject
so that they look way better than in real life. Is that craft a subject to
banning too?
What about casting
directors? Don't they reject certain types of models because they aren't
suitable for the project?
Bad retouching should
not be the reason to ban a whole group of artists who can do a good job
removing temporary imperfections such as hair misplacement, skin blemishes,
wrinkles, etc. If that process is not used to fool the client, it is applied in
a fair fashion. The same for hairstylists who do a great job making a subject
look pretty by temporarily changing the shape of the hair. So are photographers
who by introducing specific lighting conditions can make a subject look greater
than we see it in our daily life.
