I’ve mentioned elsewhere how much can be done with commercial image-enhancement technology to push our impressions of what constitutes “ideal” beauty beyond achievable limits. A few weeks ago Sam Sugar of SugarBank linked to a YouTube video of a Bulgarian Photoshop artist named InvincibleMinerva that turns a very large young woman in a parody of a cheesecake photo into a very thin young woman in… a parody of a cheesecake photo.
There are dozens of these Photoshop makeovers on YouTube, and while at first it seems as though this is the most extreme, as you look through other retouches it starts to sink in that… hey, Minerva mainly nudges the contours of the original image. Others perform outright plastic surgery — moving eyes, pasting in matching cheekbones, even adding extra teeth!
To be honest I don’t care much for retouching images much past balancing colors. People almost always look nicer when they look like themselves.
Also, any time I try it something always goes terribly wrong. :-) Happy HNT (or Half-nekkid Thursday!)
Submitted by 1381 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-05-31 11:04.
Kind of scary, eh? HHNT!
[Thanks, Bunny. And happy HNT to you, too. --fl]
Submitted by 1381 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-05-31 08:20.
I just watched that video for the first time two days ago, its amazing, especially to me because I love image "glamorizing"
I like yours better though - that is freakin' cool!
HHNT ♥
[Thanks, Jean. I'm glad you liked the image. I kind of like the way it telegraphs how enhancing one part of an image generally happens at the expense of other parts. :-) Happy HNT. --fl]
Submitted by 1381 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-05-31 08:27.
funny pic...but makes me wonder, what do we even need "models" for if everything can be so altered? (except I guess for runway models and their silly walk...)
Anyway. HHNT!!
[Good question, Zoely. Sooner or later some Photoshop whiz will do a *really* extreme makeover on, say, a stuffed doll or an old pickup truck and then we can all go home. And accept people the way we really look instead of the way we think we should. :-) Thanks! And happy HNT. --fl]
Submitted by 1381 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-05-31 09:18.
hehe cool pic
as for the vid, that right there is why so many women are self conscious of being anything but a twig.
Happy HNT
[Agreed. Also disappointing. It's hard to think about all the people in the world worrying about being thin, or buff, or hairy, or hairless, instead of worrying -- if they have to worry at all -- about being their own sexy selves. Every time we worry about something else we raise the bar on it. Thanks, OFM. --fl]
Submitted by 1381 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-05-31 10:35.
I think you'll find your left hand doesn't know what your right hand is doing, or possibly vice versa :) Body's not too bad though ...
[Ok, ok, busted! It wasn't even Photoshop, it was the "mirror" feature from iPhoto so yeah, it' my left hand both ways. Thanks, A. --fl]
Submitted by 1381 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-05-31 14:24.
Dedicated reader present and accounted for. Such a charismatic leader our figleaf :)
[Thank you, Cathy! --fl]
Submitted by 1381 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-05-31 14:52.
Ah...ha.....LOL!
HHNT!
[Thanks, Vixen. Happy HNT to you too. --fl]
Submitted by 1381 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-05-31 14:54.
Ah...ha.....LOL!
HHNT!
[Thanks, Vixen. Happy HNT to you too. --fl]
Submitted by 1381 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-05-31 14:54.
Ah...ha.....LOL!
HHNT!
Submitted by 1381 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-05-31 14:56.
Umm...yeah...sorry about that. Lord....
[No problem, Vixen. Thanks. --fl]
Submitted by 1381 (not verified) on Fri, 2007-06-01 06:40.
I hate to install a weathered cliche with modification along those lines ... "if it 'aint broke" ... perfect tool though for culture jammer hackers to reverse body image in the main media though!
Rups
[Well put, Rupert. Thanks. --fl]
Submitted by 1381 (not verified) on Fri, 2007-06-01 06:42.
Oh and Figleaf, your pic caught me completely by surprise, it's a hoot.
Rups :)
[Thanks, Rupert. --fl]
Submitted by 1381 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-05-31 07:55.
You are hot, even with a little head, happy HNT!
[Thank you, TK. Happy HNT to you. --fl]
Submitted by 1381 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-05-31 07:57.
Hahaha! That's awesome!
Happy HNT :)
[Thank you, BSH. Happy HNT to you too. --fl]