Media Airbrushing

To start off my research I started to look at media airbrushing which is often used in fashion magazines as this post-production technique is often used with software such as Photoshop and others in order to create a more perfect image with portraiture. Airbrushing is where you alter existing photos digitally, touch ups are done which changes the reality of the image. Models are airbrushed to alter their features, acne can be erased, body shapes altered, bigger eyes given which creates a more unrealistic look which is considered to be more desirable. However within this ultra perfection it can also be considered flawed as it is false advertising as this is not what the model actually looks like and it also leads to body dissatisfaction and unhealthy eating in many young girls and women. In the early days of photography until the 1860's hand brushing was a common way of altering photographs. Then in the 1890's the airbrushes were developed led to higher quality images, thus leading to a higher demand of removing imperfections such as moles and scars.

Here is an example of airbrushing below:

In this image they have removed al blemishes, whitened the models face and then darkened her cheeks, made her neck longer, changed the shape of her nose, widened her eyes, elongated her legs and finally made parts of the arms, thighs and hips more smaller and narrower which has instantly made her look younger and like she has lost weight compared to the original image where she looks older, tired and a bit chubby.