A Photoshop Reality Check
Hany Farid (Dartmouth College)
In recent years, advertisers and magazine editors have been widely criticized for taking digital photo retouching to an extreme. Impossibly thin, tall, and wrinkle- and blemish-free models are routinely splashed onto billboards, advertisements, and magazine covers. The ubiquity of these unrealistic and highly idealized images has been linked to eating disorders and body image dissatisfaction in men, women, and children. In response, several countries have considered legislating the labeling of retouched photos. To this end, we have developed a quantitative and perceptually meaningful measure of photo retouching that rates a photograph on the degree to which it has been digitally altered. The publication of such a rating alongside a photo can inform photo editors and the public as to the amount by which a photo has strayed from reality.
[joint work with Eric Kee]