Fashion magazines often photoshop models to look thinner than they really are, but this time, France's Numero magazine actually airbrushed supermodel Karlie Kloss to make her look slightly fleshier.
In stunning before-and-after photos unveiled in the Daily Mail, the protruding ribs on the 5-foot-11 Karlie Kloss are smoothed out so she does not look as a rain-thin and emaciated as she does in the original black-and-white shot.
While Numero magazine has not commented on the digital editing, it was likely done on stem controversy in light of the fashion industry's purported initiative to promote a healthy body image by banning the use of anorexic-looking models.
In December 2011, Vogue Italia was slammed after publishing nude photos of Karlie Kloss looking impossibly thin. While Kloss has said she is naturally skinny, Vogue came under fire after pro-anorexia websites began plastering their forums with the photos of the scrawny Kloss as "thinspiration."
Soon after, Vogue magazine launched a "Health Initiative" pact under which 19 international editors agreed to promote a healthy body image within the modeling industry. Included in the six-point agreement signed by the editors — including U.S. editor Anna Wintour — are pledges to not use anorexic or underage models.
- We will not knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or who appear to have an eating disorder. We will work with models who, in our view, are healthy and help promote a healthy body image.
- We will ask agents not to knowingly send us underage girls and casting directors to check IDs when casting shoots, shows and campaigns.
- We will help to structure mentoring programs where more mature models are able to give advice and guidance to younger girls, and we will help to raise industry-wide awareness through education, as has been integral to the Council of Fashion Designers of America Health Initiative.
- We will encourage producers to create healthy backstage working conditions, including healthy food options and a respect for privacy. We will encourage casting agents to keep models unreasonably late.
- We encourage designers to consider the consequences of unrealistically small sample sizes of their clothing, which limits the range of women who can be photographed in their clothes, and encourages the use of extremely thin models.
- We will be ambassadors for the message of healthy body image.
Most editors and photographers nowadays agree that the manipulation or staging of news photos is generally more culpable than manipulation or staging of featured photos. The reason for different standard for news photography is a presumption that while art may be manipulated, information may not (textbook). However, it is important that the same standard of visual truth telling can and should be applied to advertising as well.
The photo of Karlie Kloss, although intended for the better of society's view on models as well as the better reputation of the magazine, should not have been retouched because it is false advertising unless otherwise mentioned on the magazine. The debate over edited photographs is emotionally charged and constantly changing as new technology emerges.
I agree with the textbook in regards to how photojournalists should operate under this version of Kant's categorical imperative: Don't deceive a trusting audience with manipulated reality and don't offend an unsuspecting audience with your gritty reality. Photographers are dealing with a trust that readers and viewers place in them. If that trust is betrayed, it will be slow to return.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2208900/Numero-magazine-airbrushes-Karlie-Klosss-ribs-Vogue-shoot-sparked-eating-disorder-controversy.html
http://www.examiner.com/article/magazine-airbrushes-skinny-model-s-protruding-ribs-to-stem-anorexia-backlash
http://www.examiner.com/article/model-details-extreme-dieting-smoking-drug-use-ahead-of-new-york-fashion-week
http://www.examiner.com/article/vogue-editors-launch-health-initiative-we-won-t-use-anorexic-or-underage-models
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