The modeling business...a clip from the 2013 film 'Chasing Beauty' with post processing examples

Chasing Beauty 2013 gives you a candid look behind the scenes at the modeling business. Here is a clip from it where shows a sample of the post processing they use, and they discuss cat-like beauty standards as well as odd looks to capture attention. The clip finishes with photos of 2 very thin models from the film.

Clip From 'Chasing Beauty' a 2013 film about modeling : D.D.Teoli Jr. A.C. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

I never knew they did so much retouching. I figured it was all skin smoothing, not readjusting eyes, cheeks or lengthening the neck. Being a documentary photographer, you can only screw around with a photo so much before it is a lie. I try to keep things pretty honest with digital, similar to what we did in the wet darkroom. Plus, it helps that I don't know how to use Photoshop.

The film goes on to discuss some of the salaries of the highest paid models. One 'supermodel' made $45 million in a year, another made $20 million. And it discusses the origins of the term supermodel as well. Diet is a big deal and discussed a lot. One model ate cotton balls soaked in OJ, another lived on a diet of coffee with whip cream squirted on it for a while then moved onto a 2-week diet of carrots only.

The film is a really fascinating glimpse into the world of modeling. It also showed me how you can use a slightly wobbly or moving handheld camera for an interview and it does better with jump cuts rather than using a static tripod if you are going to have lots of jump cuts.

 

This is an interesting 'archive' video from 2013. 'Retouching' has moved a long way since then. On the one hand, 'retouching' has become much more subtle. On the other hand, more and more photographic subjects (including models) have objected to being 'Photoshopped' without their consent.

 

I'd like to see what they do now after 10 years of progress with the software. Maybe they will start making computer generated models that don't cost $45 million.

 

I don’t confuse lack of post processing with honesty. Documentary photography and particularly photojournalism should strive to be as accurate as possible, remembering that photography as a medium is just that, a medium, and not a substitute for “reality.”

Advertising photography has a long history of being manipulative, which makes sense given that one of the main purposes of advertising is to manipulate the audience into wanting a product.

The “ideal” woman or man posed to the consumer through models has had a very unfortunate effect on many of the models, who are unhealthy, and many consumers, who see themselves as not meeting the ideal.

What documentarians and advertisers do with photography shouldn’t be confused with what other photographers do with it. Ansel Adams did plenty of post work and I find an artistic honesty in his work, as with so many other photographers who didn’t necessarily play it “straight.” They were true to themselves and their visions, achieved a degree of emotional candidness, and create something unique and personal that seems both genuine and authentic.

Honesty means many different things and happens in many different ways.

Manipulation is a tool, neither good nor bad in itself. It all depends on its use and the results.