I think our culture is skewed. Photoshop this, smooth that, reduce this. It’s something I have never been a fan of. I’m the girl that used to flip through magazines feeling like I wasn’t thin enough, didn’t have nice enough hair, or wasn’t tall enough. Why did I feel this way? Because open up a magazine and chances are every single ad (male or female) has been thinned, enhanced, or stretched into the misconception of what perfection is.
This is our society & it breaks my heart to see this molding into the photography industry. As a culture I firmly believe we need to shift, we need to change our perceptions and how we view the human (primarily female) body.
This isn’t a rant about our culture but an explanation to why I don’t photoshop.
I am what you call a “minimalist editor”. I boost contrast, a tad bit of saturation, sharpening, and maybe an exposure adjustment. I don’t do skin smoothing, iris boosting, and I’ll be honest and say I don’t even know where the liquify tool is.. Nor do I want to.
Jasmine Star spoke up about “how much is too much photo retouching?” & I have to say she struck a passionate, deep chord in my heart.
I don’t smooth your skin because I like your freckles. I like them because they’re you. I like your smile lines because it is lovely evidence that you’ve lived a happy life. I like your pores because they make you human. I don’t iris whiting because I want your eyes to be you.
It’s truly as simple as that.
There is a general rule of thumb that it’s okay to get rid of anything that will be gone in two weeks. That little pesky dot on your forehead? I can get rid of that. Or what about that single stray hair hanging right in front of your eye? I can get rid of that.
But I will only do so with your request or permission.
But please understand that, that is as far as I will go. I want your images to reflect exactly who you are. Who you are at the precise moment that you wanted photographed.
So to my future clients. This is me. This is how I run my business. I can make you look beautiful and not inside of a editing software but in real life. I can make you look beautiful exactly how you are as an individual, in your heart, and in person.
C