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Just asking -- what's wrong with women the way they're made? 'Cause if we see one more retouched image in which a beautiful woman is manipulated to look like a freak of nature for no reason whatsoever, we're going to scream.
Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido is the latest brand to use Photoshop for evil. In what appears to be an ad campaign (courtesy of blog Photoshop Disasters), a nude woman sits perched on a cliff, her head resting on her left knee. So far, so good.
Now, look at her right leg. Is it growing out of the rock? It certainly doesn't appear to be attached to the rest of her body. And what's that coming out of her left foot? Extra toes growing out of her heel, or a disembodied hand? In any case, not anything that's supposed to be there.
How infuriating to see these images of women routinely reconstituted, and how frustrating that it seems to happen so frequently (the skin lightening controversy of Gabourey Sidibe's Elle cover was only a couple of weeks ago).
As if it's not bad enough to constantly be sent the message to get skinnier and sexier through heavily manipulated media imagery, now we're supposed to have mutant limbs, too?
Now, look at her right leg. Is it growing out of the rock? It certainly doesn't appear to be attached to the rest of her body. And what's that coming out of her left foot? Extra toes growing out of her heel, or a disembodied hand? In any case, not anything that's supposed to be there.
How infuriating to see these images of women routinely reconstituted, and how frustrating that it seems to happen so frequently (the skin lightening controversy of Gabourey Sidibe's Elle cover was only a couple of weeks ago).
As if it's not bad enough to constantly be sent the message to get skinnier and sexier through heavily manipulated media imagery, now we're supposed to have mutant limbs, too?
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Thursday 30 September
By Roberta
come now girls. why should this bother you so much? Are we all so insecure with ourselves? WE know anatomy, WE know ourselves. You should just find this stuff laughable. The message that is being sent is that we are not able to live with ourselves and our insecurities. Let us not blame everyone else. Teach our young females and males about reality in life. Stop pointing fingers.
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Thursday 30 September
By debi
i'm not surprised at all- almost all professional photographs are photoshopped! my 7 year old daughter has been modeling since she was 6 months old- last year i found her photos from an italian shoot online- every one was photoshopped to make her look thinner...she was 7 years old! i decided to pull her out of the agency as i don't want her to have 'issues' later in life.
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Thursday 30 September
By bemused
This is laughable - you don't want yoour daughter to "have issues" later on in life yet she has been modleing since she was 6 months old? Sounds like you have done all you can to ensure her entire self esteem, from pretty much day one, is based on modleing and how she looks.
Thursday 30 September
By megan
Who cares?
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Thursday 30 September
By Laura Lynn
OMG! Who are the idiots that not only did the photoshopping, but approved the add? Are they blind? Are they from this planet? What they hell were they thinking?
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Thursday 30 September
By leon
Be calm. Maybe they did it on purpose to get people to look at their magazine.
Thursday 30 September
By placedorders
I think it was a good add about not changing the way a woman is naturally. But because we can't see the add, we don't really know.
Thursday 30 September
By Susy
Agree with you 100%, who would approve a photo like this before it went to press? Are they blind? It looks so freakish.
Thursday 30 September
By Phil
AOL SHOULD SUE AND BLOCK ALL THESE 'ADVERTISIERS' THAT PLACE ADS ON EVERY BLOG!! AOL USERS, IF YOU SEE ON, REPORT IT TO THE WEB MASTER AS I'VE DONE. AOL, SUE THESE ANNOYING PEOPLE FOR THE 'AD TIME' THEY ARE GETTING FOR FREE. ALSO TELL AOL IF THEY DON'T STOP THEM, YOU WILL USE ANOTHER SEARCH ENGINGE!!!!Yep, someone doesn't know how to 'proofread' a ad copy. Who didn't notice this error before it went to print!!
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Thursday 30 September
By liberal
Do you really think he made a mistake? If the goal is to make an arresting image that causes you stop, look, and read the ad didn't he succeed. Not only that, the image is disturbing enough to get free press om AOL. That's genius, and that's good ad art.
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Thursday 30 September
By Richard Ferrante
What a jerk you are! What do you know makes a good ad?
There is no point, saleable or not, to distort the person shown.
If you walk away from an ad with a negative point of view—it failed.
Besides the odd features mentioned in the article, her right leg is much too long for that body. Stupid is stupid. The art director is an ass. The agency should be on notice. The client didn't focus on their ad and approved it. There are also commercials on TV that are simply in bad taste. There is no excuse for trying to get attention with a bad idea or a tasteless one.
Thursday 30 September
By Bobby
I think women with legs 6' long are sexy. I admit it would be nice if she had a matching pair though..
Thursday 30 September
By Lisa
When I first saw the photo, I thought "no one could have a leg that long", It borders on the macabre. Also the lower part of the left leg looks like a guy's 's forearm, complete with hand or actually more like a flipper. The right leg definitely looks dismembered. What a shoddy ad job!
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Thursday 30 September
By Nicole
Just to make a small disagreeing point. if you look at the shadow of her leg and compare the thigh ratio of her left leg to the distance from her hip to her left knee, and take in account distortion from different distances, the leg is fine. This blogger is incorrect about where the right hand is. The hand is under her left leg next to her foot. So her hand is now accounted for as well as the length of her leg. now by looking at the density of the shadows beneath her right leg we can tell that the light was coming from the top left of the shot and that accounts for the size of her leg's shadow. which also matches. Undoubtedly they used photo-shop, but why would these designers lop off the leg only to paste it back on in such a fashion? So for all of you people who simply hate yourselves so much that you have to bash art and advertisements as unreal, I'm sorry that you have such low self-esteem but please pay attention to anatomy.
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Thursday 30 September
By JP
Interesting. You must have a different photo on your computor or you seriously need a new pair of glasses. I spent my share of time in art school drawing nudes and I do recognize wacky photo manipulation when I see it.
Thursday 30 September
By Tardis Jockey
Nicole,
My what a pretentious little lump of dull you are. Most of us are aware that the length is of the right leg is correct, just as the only one here that is insecure is you. No one is bashing the model, referring to her as a skinny, anorexic beast. THAT would be insecurity. Insecurity is when you have to try to talk like a condescending college professor and follow it up with an insult. "Art" is subjective. It's a given that not everyone is going to like it. But "art" that makes you think "Eeeew!" and then associated with your brand name? THAT's a just a really bad idea.
Thursday 30 September
By Really?
"if you look at the shadow of her leg and compare the thigh ratio of her left leg to the distance from her hip to her left knee, and take in account distortion from different distances, the leg is fine"....IF YOU DO ALL THAT...YOU NEED A LIFE AND PROBABLY A JOB.
Thursday 30 September
By KJW
Take another look at the leg on the left. I don't think its her leg.... and I'll go further than that, and say that it could be a man's leg. I think the photographer/artist intended to provoke discussion and get attention. Its certainly not new for a Japanese artist to go in the direction of weird. And its working, because you're giving him publicity for the shot!
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Thursday 30 September
By lestes3835
Shiseido:
"Dang, we never should have showed that jerk Picasso how to use Photoshop!"
Thursday 30 September
By Steph
Oh relax, people. Obviously there was a specific motive behind this ad. Its not like they photoshopped her to be thinner or prettier. Her leg is just coming out of the rock, and other than the brand name, theres no indication of what the ad is really about. Im guessing there's a soft skin comparison to the rock or something of that sort.
Its a slow news day I suppose.
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