Photoshop has so invaded our cultural mindset as the magic button
that makes things better, more beautiful. But it's more dangerous than
you might believe, both because of the myth of what it can do and the
subconscious damage it does do.Now please don't misunderstand, I
love my Photoshop. It has opened up whole new creative avenues that
would have been impossible 20 years ago.And really, it's not so much Photoshop that is dangerous as it is the person who wields the mouse, or more often the tablet pen.
First,
the danger of the myth of Photoshop: it's viewed as the universal 'make
better button'. The phrase, 'I can fix that in Photoshop' almost goes
without saying now. Photoshop, or rather the operator because somehow
they have become the same, will improve on reality. Create in every
image the essence of beauty.
So the myth is that Photoshop makes
things better. That suggests two things: that things aren't good as they
are, plus that if a little Photoshop is good, then more must be better.
That
premise has birthed plugins to Photoshop. One in particular has become
massively popular with photographers. They have so refined it that the
software analyses the subject's face and reshapes it to better fit with
its researched vision of beauty.
Faces become thinner, eyes wider
and better placed, lips fuller with enriched colour, brighter teeth and
whites of the eyes, along with colour shifting skin. In the end, you
often don't look like you, just enough to at least resemble you, though.
Often
Photoshop users go too far. Skin becomes plastic, no pores, glowing
white eyes along with trimmed body parts that are just impossible
anatomically. You can find piles of websites called Epic Photoshop
Fails.
The damage it does. It subtly tells us that we are not good
enough as we are. The subconscious reads it this way, chipping away at
our self-image, like we need fixing some how to be presented to the
world, to those we love. Like spin doctors, our image is being managed.
Watch for the signs that Photoshop is transforming from a friend to a dangerous felon.
However, done carefully it can represent you like a good dress does. You don't go out on a hot date wearing your dumpy clothes.
It
does correct for things that the camera causes. For example, some lens
and angles used will shorten your legs, and Photoshop can bring them
back to the right perspective. Blemishes and sunburns that come and go,
can go. We can gently correct an errant fabric flow or hair wisp. We can
creatively colour match the outfit to the background or to your
lipstick.
So be wary of images that feel like Photoshop has been
used to save it. Often what is being saved is a photographer's weak base
skill set. Most things Photoshop fixes can be looked after in camera
and with posing. Just because something can be done, does not mean it
should be.
With all the corrections and fixes and tweaks, it's
very easy to suck the delicate life - the character of a woman - from
the image. It may look lovely, but in a mannequin sort of way.
Photoshop
can be a girl's best friend, the same way a sexy pair of heels can, or a
wicked form-fitting dress tricked out with makeup that brings out your
eyes, accenting your lips.
Like your makeup and style, it's always best never to go to excess.
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