Retouching, Airbrushing, & Body Chopping

Retouching Photographs (and Advertisements)

Mirabella magazine created an artificial model, "an  extraordinary image of great American beauty,"  for the cover of their September 1994 issue Source: http://sandra.oundjian.com/content/papers/thesis/chapter3.htm Good website: Greg's Digital Retouching Portfolio

1990 Cover Photo of actress Michelle Pheiffer


Source: Adbusters Quarterly, Summer 1995, vol.3, No. 4
read the graphics order to retouch the photo image

Manipulating the image of stars to make them look so beautiful: 
(from July 1992 McCall's)  "With state-of-the-art gadgetry a photographic image is scanned into a computer, creating an exact duplicate that can be retouched electronically in any number of ways. Its makeover power makes airbrushing--the age old technique used to refine stars' complexions in portraits--seem puny. Among other things, Scitexing can eliminate crow's-feet, wrinkles or blemishes;
pump up or pare down cleavage; turn a sneer into a smile; whiten teeth; tame stray hairs; lengthen arms or legs; and put heads on different bodies"

"Dismemberment or body-chopping in ads occurs more frequently for women than men. Women's bodies without heads, faces or feet lead us to believe that all that truly matters about woman lies between her neck and her knees (Cortese, 1999)."

Site Updated on: 02/12/2009