There used to a website for Iwanex Studios, that had about 20 pictures of celebrities and showed both the before and after for the photos they'd re-touched. It was there three days ago .... and now it's gone. Which sucks, because there were some example of some really atrocious retouching--atrocious as in the changes made were fucking ridiculous, and are perfect examples of why the media makes people hate themselves. This link has one example, of Cameron Diaz, but it's not actually the worst. Actually, in that one, the retouched image doesn't show her jutting hipbones the way the first photo did, so I guess that's a good thing, to minimize the anorexic ideal.

Some of them aren't as bad as others--for example, this photo of Cate Blanchett where they basically erased her freckles and any lines. Oh, and changed her hair color. And possibly her eye color. And the color of her lips. But at least with this picture, you can say that the look could be achieved with makeup and/or hair dye. The retouched photos of men were basically the same--smooth out wrinkles, even out skin tone, etc.

But some of them ... holy cow. Check out Penelope Cruz, or rather check out how different she looks after clever Photoshpper has changed her skin tone slightly, evened her breasts and slightly changed the shape of them, and nipped in her waist. And look at the different in her hair--like the strand on her forehead that was removed, and the others in the top left that have been erased. Can't have her hair moving like a regular person's hair would in a breeze! Or have it be her actual color, either. Her left ear has suddenly appeared in the "after" photo, too. Why do they change these things?

This is fun: watch Eva Longoria suddenly be thinner, with bigger hips! And her hair suddenly has highlights, and her smile is different, as is her skin tone. And maybe her eye color? And the bust of her little nightgown is more transparent in the second photo as well.



Last one, I promise. Now, you have to look beyond the weirdness of the photo in the first place--why is Beyonce slicing peppers, in a bikini, with a machete? Then look at how her hair has different colors in it. And how her boobs are bigger. And how, in the photo on the left, you can see "muffin top" and even a "roll" on her stomach! Check out her right calf, and how much bigger it is on the right than on the left. Look at how, on the left, she sort of looks tired.

You hear all the time how celebrities don't even look like celebrities, and it's so true. It's not even that people are trying to look like celebrities--celebrities are above average, generally speaking, but they're human. But there are people killing themselves to reach these goals that can only be accomplished with digital manipulation.