Our book, Adobe Photoshop CS5 One-On-One by Deke McClelland, is an excellent tool for anyone who wants to master the basics of Photoshop. After about two months of class, I can successfully manipulate photographs to make them more aesthetically pleasing, or to infuse reality with imagination. However, Deke offended me in the latest lesson.
The Liquify filter and all of its tools are powerful, powerful elements of Photoshop CS5. You can use them for fun, for good, or, in this case, for evil. I included the picture above because it looks like a perfect of example of using Photoshop to create a false image of perfection that affects the way many girls (and boys) see themselves.
We were asked to use the Warp tool, which “stretches and squishes” pixels (as Deke put it), to edit a photo of a normal-looking woman sitting with her head tilted to the side. First, we had to move her elbows and shoulders around a little because they were uneven. But after that, Deke let us know that the woman’s weight was not acceptable.
“The stool our lovely model is sitting on is having an unfortunate effect on her thighs and hips,” Deke writes. Sorry, but, you’re wrong.
She’s a perfectly healthy woman who didn’t need to be made skinnier in order to enhance the photo. It’s fat-shaming, honestly. The fact that I’m receiving a grade because of this makes me sick.
I know my reaction might seem a little dramatic, but I’ve struggled with body image issues. Almost every girl does, and many boys do, too. I can’t say I’ve ever had a friend who didn’t think they were fat or ugly at some point, and I know plenty of people with eating disorders and depression. It’s scary, and I don’t like contributing to it.
I remember doing this assignment too and didn't like it either. Hopefully in the future there will be more people like us who can tell that the girl in the picture looks perfectly fine in the original photo and they won't use these tools for evil.
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