I sent this gif to my sister with the text, “I’m testing the Photoshop line.” She promptly responded,  “Ya crossed it.”

I agree 1000%. When has the Photoshop line been crossed? Ya know it when you see it.

Here’s the thing, people know what I actually look like IRL so using a majorly Photoshopped image of myself is pretty inauthentic. But where is the line? Everyone wants to look their best. Most women wear at least some makeup every day. Other people get Botox, lasers, and fillers as part of their beauty regimen. Does that make a person inauthentic?

For this series of pictures, I took a plain photo of myself - unslept, unshowered, sans makeup and morphed it into something more aesthetically pleasing. Does it still look like me? Nope, but I’m curious. If you were to divorce the face from the person you know, how would this change someone’s impression of you?  Not knowing me personally, if you were to judge the first image of me, what would you think? How about the last image?

Research has shown that the sleep deprived individuals appear less healthy, less attractive, and less intelligent (Torodov, Face Value, pg. 208, 2017). Research has also shown that the more attractive men are, the more competent they are perceived to be. This relationship is also true for women, but only to a certain point. (Stay tuned for more testing on this topic. I find it utterly fascinating.)

When people tell me they don’t like Photoshop, I don’t usually take them literally. For anyone who has ever taken a RAW photo, you  know that it’s much like a film negative. You typically still make a few exposure adjustments either globally or by dodging and burning selectively. You may also make adjustments to the color temperature, contrast, and saturation. All of these adjustments take place even before the “Photoshop” work begins. For a great summary on image context and user expectations when it comes to photo manipulation, I suggest you read this page on fotoforensics.com.

So, when people say they don’t like Photshopped images, I take it to mean that they don’t like someone they know not looking like themselves as a result of digital manipulation. It’s sort of the visual equivalent of autotune. This manipulation often involves reshaping facial features and bodies in a manner that crosses some as yet to be quantified - but definitely recognizable - line. The other instance in which people don’t like Photoshopped images is where a human being ceases to look human. This can give a person an almost alien or cartoonish appearance. Or it could result in someone having something be anatomically incorrect with their face or body. Has anyone else seen the country music bill board with the Miranda Lambert bobblehead and tiny arm? For more hilarity, check out these Photoshop fails.

Obvious photo editing errors aside, where is your line? Mine is likely around the middle image. It still looks like me but could be a version of me on a well rested day. And I’m ok with that. The third image is just….odd