Today on the blog we have a guest post by Jamie Noel.  Here’s more info about her:

Hi, I’m Jamie. I joined Digital Exposure (@digitalexposure) last year after completing my degree course in media studies. I am an assistant photographer and manage the company’s website and I.T.

Is Photo Editing Going Too Far?

The camera doesn’t lie. We have come to hear this saying over the years but as time goes on it loses meaning, as in this day and age the camera does lie, its’ fair to say it lies a lot. Where do we draw a line between some minor retouching to image manipulation? It is a tough line to draw but in the era where public image is vital we need to discover a social standard.

Enhancing or just plain changing?
A controversial picture recently put photo editing in the spotlight. The 25^th edition of Elle had actress Gabourey Sidibe on the cover. At first thought you think to yourself “great, an independent African American overweight woman on the cover of Elle” but on closer look you begin to ask questions like why is she so pale? She looks ill. But then it hits me, she was meant to look pale. The photo retouching is so drastic that news channels around the world are questioning the legitimacy of the image. This raises so many moral and ethical issues around lightening the skin of an actress just to increase sales. In a world where image rules surely this is taking it a step too far.
When did editing become the norm?
In the past there was a taboo when digital editing and photo retouching was used, it would in some cases ruin careers. However this is no longer the case and it’s hard to see when this happened. It is the responsibility of the photographer to ensure the photograph shows what is actually there. If every image is manipulated then the public will question each image they see and this questions the honesty of photographers and puts them all in one bracket which they do not want to be in.
Social Impacts:
The magazines and newspapers are littered daily with images of celebrities and this has a huge impact on the young generation of today. They idolise famous people and look to them for styles and trends. The commercial photography market is indeed indulged in the photo-editing art and this is directly affecting huge amounts of teenagers. It makes them try to aspire to celebrity images which are not possible to achieve. Young girls want to look like Megan Fox or Beyonce and they think what they look like in magazines is what they are actually like, but this is not the case. Commercial photographers also have a social obligation in my opinion, yes they are allowed to slightly edit the image to bring it in its best light but drastically changing and editing the image to create a false sense of beauty shouldn’t be allowed or tolerated by the public, as it just creates a lie.
Summary:
It is clear to see that photo editing is a very touchy subject and there are many views from both sides of the fence. But I do believe it is in the best interest of commercial photography to limit the amount of editing done on pictures as it will in the long run help maintain their credibility and allow the public to trust them again.

So, what are your thoughts on Photo Editing?? Has it gone too far, do you like how it’s changed the outcome of photos or are you a naturalist like me in doing very little with photo editing software?  Lets weigh in.