Marie Southard Ospina is fashion and beauty editor who’s fascinated by Photoshop and its use by women’s magazines in the relentless pursuit of perfection.
Inspired by recent experiments where women sent photos of themselves around the world and asked to be “made beautiful” according to different cultural standards, Marie — a plus-size woman — was interested to see what retouchers from different cultures would make of her looks.
“As most plus-size women know, there are certain repeated phrases thrown around at women of size quite consistently: ‘You have such a pretty face; if only you lost some weight.’ ‘You’re pretty for a big girl’,” she wrote for Bustle.
“I became increasingly curious as to how editors would treat a photo of me if asked to edit it, what with my chubby cheeks, double chin, thick shoulders and chest and rounder, fuller face,” she added. “What would they do with these traits? Would they all slim me down in the aid of ‘making me look beautiful’?”
So Marie conducted a little experiment –So she sent a headshot of herself to magazine editors in 21 different countries and asked them to make her look beautiful, while keeping in mind the looks they see in their local beauty and fashion magazines.
The results were fascinating and, in some ways, encouraging.
Click through to see how the Photoshop experts in 21 different countries approached the experiment (Post continues after gallery):
Original Photo Italy Canada Macedonia India Vietnam Bulgaria Mexico
Only three of the 21 countries slimmed Marie down using Photoshop, and despite what you may assume, none of those countries were Australia or the US: instead, they were Mexico, Ukraine and Latvia.
Didn’t see that coming, did you?
Also heartening was Marie’s encounter with Icelandic experts. While she approached three retouchers from Iceland about involvement in the project, all said they wouldn’t use Photoshop at all — so they couldn’t participate.
Can we get a round of applause for Iceland?
A similar, earlier Photoshop experiment by journalist Ester Honig:
The picture before Photoshopping. gal2.jpg gal11.jpg gal12.jpg gal3.jpg gal4.jpg gal5.jpg gal6.jpg gal7.jpg gal8.jpg gal9.jpg
Another Photoshop experiment bybiracial journalist and artist Priscilla Yuki Wilson:
A few not-so-encouraging uses of Photoshop:
Katy Perry with two left hands American Apparel photoshop original American Apparel photoshop fail Anne Hathaway suspiciously smooth armpit on the cover GQ magazine Ashley Simpson looking crystal clear on the cover of Cosmo Avril Lavigne missing part of her arm on Maxim magazine Bikini legs photoshop fail Carrie Underwood having some hand issues on the cover of InStyle magazine Chinese online fashion store extra long legs Chinese online fashion store extra long legs Demi Moore looking a little airbrushed Demi Moore missing a hip The cover of Elle magazine looking a little touched up The cover of Elle magazine looking a little touched up Eminem enhances on the cover of XXI Eva Mendes well brushed for Marie Claire Hot dog fingers This hair removal ad has also removed the woman's body Hilary Rhoda photoshopped on the cover of Numero Jennifer Anniston before and after Jessica Alba before and after photoshopping Justin Beiber looking clean and clear on magazine cover The Kardashian collection photoshop/shoot The Kardashian collection photoshop/shoot Karlie adding weight to a model Another Karlie photoshop fail Kate Moss's child places her hand oddly on Kate's back Katrina Halili and her freaky fingers Keria Knightly photoshopped on Allure magazine Kerry Washington's breasts looking suspiciously retouched on Essence magazine Kerry Washington photoshopped dramatically on Lucky magazine Keira Knightly redone by Chanel Kim Kardashian smoothed out and sucked in Kristen Stewart missing a limb on Glamour magazine Kylie Minogue's balancing act for Elle magazine Lada Gaga dramatically redone by Vogue Lauren Graham missing her neck Longchamp showing off some seriously long legs Michelle Obama's head looking well pasted on Natalia Vodianova's disappearing head on GQ magazine Online shop model's levitating hand Online shop photoshop fail This model missing a limb Online store photoshop fail Cover model of playboy looking well out of proportion Prince William has suddenly got black hair Rachel Bilson out of proportion SimplyBe's model has strangely sprawling fingers Suave body wash model has been Jeans photoshop fail Target ad with one too many arms Taylor Swift looking well brushed on this magazine cover Victoria Secrets model missing thighs VIntage Reserve photoshop fail Vintage Reserve photoshop fail Vogue cover model missing part of her arm Walmart bikini painted on Zac Efron so beautifully airbrushed Scarlett Johansson for D&G This Victoria's Secret model is wearing a push-up bra... that only works on one breast? It's twins? It's not. Adam Lavigne's missing part of his torso. When this ad for Dolce & Gabana first come out, people questioned whether it was physically possible for the female model to sit in that position. dolcegabana-light-blue-ad-campaign-230810-2 Do you think Donna Hay's legs look... stretched? On this cover of Grazia, Kate Middleton's waist is the focus... Jessica Alba, is that you? The Louis Vuitton Fall 2010 campaign. Follow the arrow... Mexico Vogue's March issue. Where's her arm? Candice Swanepoel's shoulder. Something's not right.. Nicky Webster before and after Photoshop. Ralph Lauren. This is ridiculous.. Do Leighton Meester's legs look stretched on this cover of SHOP?
You can read the originally article on Bustle here.
Top Comments
Vietnam slimmed down the first woman the most.
That's some bad photoshop. The editors must have said for their 8 year old to have fun.