Beautification and Truth Telling ~Portrait Photography~
By Lauren Claire Pinches
www.laurenclairephotography.com 0|Page
The American writer, Susan Sontag, called the history of photography a struggle between two imperatives: Beautification and truth telling. Her essay entitled “The Heroism of Vision� included in her book On Photography expresses her concern and thoughts on the subject. This essay has been designed to explore beautification and truth telling within the portrait field of photography. Concentration will be placed on the role it plays in society and the effects it has on those involved. As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but is it really?
In theory, beautification is the process of making visual improvements to a person, place or thing (Wikipedia. 2010). Appearance and self image has been an important factor in the lives of many women around the world. For centuries they have been purchasing beauty products, which promise to magically keep them looking young. More recently, the metrosexual male has made an appearance and the need for male beauty products has increased dramatically. All of these beauty products are mass produced in factories on a daily basis and are continually being updated with new formulas for better results. Every season the world is shown a new improved version of a specially formulated beauty product which, according to the representing companies, will take 20 years off your appearance. The question that enters the homes of viewers across the continent is whether or not the previously mentioned statement is true or whether the photographic images that make up the advertisements have undergone beautification and manipulation.
Throughout history there has been a struggle between showing beauty and the truth. The original purpose of photography was to document details of reality; and any altered photographs were said to be untrue. The connection between beauty and truth was made in 1819 by the poet George Keats when he wrote the poem Ode ou a Grecian Uru.
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It states: “Beauty is truth, truth beautyThat is all ye know on earth, And all ye need to know.” (Keats. 1819)
The main focus of this essay will be based on the above mentioned lines of the poem written by Keats. The connection between beauty and truth telling will be explored with the assistance of portrait photography in the form of advertising and how this affects the people involved both mentally and physically.
The invention of photography allowed, for the first time, for realistic scenes to be recorded. The photographic images produced were more detailed than any other art form. People trusted and believed that the photograph portrayed reality and the truth. Shortly after the invention of photography, photographic manipulation made its first appearance. Figure one shows the first recorded manipulated image, this is too the first example of beautification. In 1917, two young girls, provided with a simple still camera encased with film produced this image. Jerry Lodriguss states, “Arthur Conon Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, believed these photographs to be real, and wrote pamphlets attesting to their truthfulness.“ (Lodriguss). This Fig 1:
E, Wright & F, Griffiths. 1917. “Fairy” Photograph.
statement proves that photographs disclose information to the viewer; and people didn‟t
understand the concept of photographic manipulation when it first appeared in 1917. The subject of the photograph dominates perception and because it records reality, 2|Page
to the best degree when compared to other art forms, viewers assume that the subject is a piece of the world and not a photographic effect placed during postproduction.
Today beautification and truth telling has become a way of life. All the photographic images taken have been manipulated to some degree. There are many people involved in the photographic process, who are all key role players in the making and manipulation of beautification. These people are the photographers, make-up artists, fashion designers, stylists, models and so forth. They all play a part in the production of the final image, as their field is an art form all on its own. People tend to push the creative limits in order to make a photograph aesthetically pleasing to reveal truths, but they are not always apparent to the uncritical eye. Roland Barthes states, “on one hand a photograph is an object worked up, selected, composed, constructed, treated according to various personal, aesthetic, or ideological norms which are so many connotation-factors; and, on the other hand, this same photograph is not only perceived, received, it is read, attached- to a traditional stock of signs.� (Mullen. 1998)
Biologically, everyone has the ability to perceive images in the same way as visual sensory perception is based on the functions of the eye. In theory, light enters the eye, hits the cells in the retina and stimulates the brain to interpret the pulses of the optical stimuli into understandable forms, and produces the images we see. However, everyone interprets images differently. People from different cultures, communities and religious groups will perceive photographic images and beautification in a different light, and ultimately it will be affected by the individualâ€&#x;s history and experiences that they have undergone. When comparing a photographic image to reality, one can clearly see that the image involves a reduction in proportion, perspective and colour, yet viewers understand that the image is a clear representation of reality. (Mullen. 1998). 3|Page
The main concern when approaching the topic beautification and truth telling is the fact that digital manipulation is a great part of today‟s society. The images shown in advertising campaigns and product packaging makes the viewer perceive perfection. Perception originates in the sense organs in one‟s body and the knowledge of the world in the form of memories, history, experiences, cues and prompts, affects ones thoughts and ideas concerning this. Plato mentioned, “Every living person is in the process of becoming and of moving towards the ideal. The more beautiful something is, the more it will be closer to the ideal.” (Mullen. 1998). Therefore, in today‟s society, people are more inclined to perceive elements as favourable based on appearance alone.
Figure 2: Farid, H. Photo Tampering throughout history. [online] Retrieved from:www.dartmouth.edu/farid/research/digitaltampering/index4.html
As one can notice in the above image, beautification, which is now more commonly known as photographic manipulation, plays a huge role in advertising and marketing. “This cover of Redbook magazine shows a heavily re-touched (and thinner) image of 4|Page
singer and actress Faith Hill. Redbook was accused of contributing to the unattainable body image created by digital re-touching. In response, Redbook's editor in chief Stacy Morrison said, "The retouching we did on Faith Hill's photo for the July cover of Redbook is completely in line with industry standards." (Farid). The picture making up the left hand side of figure two is the original photographic image taken by the photographer. Faith Hill is shown in a static pose; the graphic nature of the diagonal line made by her arm leads the viewer to stunning features within her facial structure. The image making up the right hand side of figure two boasts the use of digital manipulation. The have slimmed down an already petite figure, made changes to the hair, make-up, as well as the facial structure of the model Faith Hill. The natural and real image has been destroyed by what the media exposes to society.
“This magazine advertisement by Ralph Lauren depicts a heavily manipulated photo of model Filippa Hamilton. After numerous reports citing this latest example of extreme photo manipulation, a Ralph Lauren representative admitted to "poor imaging and retouching", and added, "We have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a much distorted image of a woman's body. We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the calibre of our artwork represents our brand appropriately." (Farid). Has society been damaged to such an extent that digital manipulators canâ€&#x;t tell the difference between a completely natural image, beautification, digital Figure 3: Farid, H. Photo Tampering throughout history. [online] Retrieved from :www.dartmouth.edu/farid/research/digitaltamper ing/index4.html
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manipulation and destruction?
The above mentioned comments relate to many factors that cause harm to the people of our communities. Eating disorders, depression, unhealthy dieting and plastic surgery have become a norm in society. People are resorting to desperate measures in order to achieve the beauty shown to them via the media. To constantly be in the firing line of images showing both men and women with perfect slim, well-tanned, toned and muscular bodies that show no visible signs of wrinkles, blemishes or any imperfection, is bound to affect the viewer over a period of time. According to Tebbel, the writer of “The body snatchers: How the media shapes woman”, people that undergo plastic surgery willingly submit themselves to an invasive and intrusive procedure. Their sole purpose of undergoing this transformation is to improve their physical appearance and start a new perfect life. They don‟t however undergo a mental shift that will run parallel to the drastic change of appearance and even after the surgery continue to have a negative body image. Unfortunately this is often corrected by multiple visits to the plastic surgeon and ultimately it becomes an addiction (Tebbel. 2000). The finding of beauty has become a psychological need of human beings, and what passes for beauty has been completely constructed by members of society. Unhealthy dieting is also a huge problem that is currently controlling society. Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are continually on the rise, as well as over-the-counter drugs that help with weight loss, yet place extensive stress on the normal function of bodily organs.
The truth however is that society wants to see digitally manipulated images, people like to know that there are perfect people in society to whom they can look up to and strive to be like. Photography has changed society‟s idea of reality by controlling the way that both people and elements in society look. Technically the way in which the eye sees an image, as mentioned above, and the way a photographic lens sees an image and judges perspective, are totally different. Society has been trained to see photographically, this is dissociative; it alienates and replaces the truth by digitally manipulated or beautified images. More recently the use of fuller figure models has increased. Society isn‟t accustomed to seeing more “natural” looking images within the pages of glossy magazines. People of the 21st century are incredibly quick to judge and prefer seeing the “socially acceptable” figures. 6|Page
Ultimately beauty isn‟t only about appearances and beliefs. What society considers as “ugly” may be just as true as the beautiful, but one prefers the beautiful to be true. (Mullen. 1998). This statement refers to the way in which society wants to view images. Viewers will always choose the beautified image over the true. As shown in this essay mass media makes a large contribution to the way in which society views and analyses images. Over the last few years, the world of digital manipulation has been exposed and people are more aware of what is done to the images shown in advertising campaigns, on television and on the pages of high end glossy magazines. In my view there is no such thing as „pure beauty‟ in today‟s society. However, human beings have a need for beauty as a social construct. “Success in this endeavour depends upon conveying semiotic meaning through the photographic product. To do this effectively, aesthetic considerations have to be applied. The aesthetic contains and reflects notions of beauty and the photographic process itself tends to beautify its subject.” Successful photography therefore contains beauty. However, this beauty is subjectively interpreted by both the photographer and the viewer. (Purcell)
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Reference List Lodriguss, J. The ethics of digital manipulation. [online] Received on 22 September 2010 from: www.astropix.com/html/j_digit/ethics.htm
Mullen, L. 1998. Truth In Photography: Perception, Myth And Reality In The Postmodern World. [online] Retreived on 19 September 2010 from: citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download.pdf
Purcell, R. n.a. Photography and Beauty. [online] Retrieved on 19 September 2010 from: www.beautifuldaze.net/articles/beauty.pdf.
Tebbel, C. 2000. The body snatchers: How the media shapes woman. Australia. Finch
Wikipedia. 2010a. Beautification. [Online] Retrieved on 20 September 2010 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/beautification
Image Reference List Figure 1:
E, Wright & F, Griffiths. 1917. “Fairy� Photograph. [online] Retrieved on 20 September 2010 from: www.astropix.com/html/j_digit/ethics.htm
Figure 2:
Farid, H. Photo Tampering throughout history. [online] Retrieved from: www.dartmouth.edu/farid/research/digitaltampering/index4.html
Figure 3:
Farid, H. Photo Tampering throughout history. [online] Retrieved from: www.dartmouth.edu/farid/research/digitaltampering/index4.html
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