France Takes a Chop at Photoshop

Warning labels appear on food, alcohol, and cigarettes to protect physical health, but what if labels were implemented to protect psychological health as well? A draft law in France, proposing mandatory labels of airbrushing, intends to do just that.

Valerie Boyer, a thin, fashionable, and divorced woman, spends her time taking care of her three children and serving on the French Parliament. Her newly proposed law will help to protect women like her two teenage daughters from the false portrayal of women in the media. The law, supported by a group of 50 French politicians, would require published photos to include a disclaimer reading: “Photograph retouched to modify the physical appearance of a person.” Violators of the law would face a fine of $55,000 or up to half of what the publicity campaign cost to create. Although the proposal is aimed at advertising, it would not only apply to fashion and make-up ads, but also to food packaging, political campaigns, and works of art. Boyer sees airbrushing as an issue of standards and dishonesty. Countless magazines boast headlines of “Just be yourself” and “Ways to love your body,” and yet these headlines are supported by heavily Photoshopped images of emaciated women. Boyer states that advertisers are “feeding the public a steady visual diet of falsified people, places and products.”

Boyer’s initiatives characterize her as an activist for women’s rights and body image issues. This law is one of many in a long list of female-friendly laws that Boyer endorses. She supports a proposed law that aims to regulate cosmetic surgery for minors and a bill intended to fight female genital mutilation.

The proposal has garnered support from health professionals, models, photographers, and even photo-editing and retouching personnel. However, it has also attracted a number of opponents who see the law as a scheme produced to limit creative freedom and expression. The main opponents are the advertising companies who rely on photo alteration and the appeal of the perfect body to sell their clients’ products. Supporters argue that the purpose of the law is not to limit speech but solely to protect the consumer from psychological damage. Boyer states that airbrushed and altered images lead to the “misrepresentation of body image in our society, which may contribute to the development of various psychological disorders.”

Opponents of the law argue that enforcing such requirements would be a technical impossibility with no sure way to determine if a photo has been retouched or altered. However, in May of 2010, Boyer helped announce the release of TUNGSTEN, a software program that has the ability to check whether or not a photograph has been retouched. The program, created by Roger Cozien, detects and identifies all modifications to a photograph and can even trace the history of a digital photograph. This new software will ensure effective enforcement of the law.

The proposal is only one step in a long-running campaign to combat airbrushing and body image issues. Earlier in the year, a German magazine entitled Brigitte decided to exclusively use photos of “ordinary” women in their articles. Editor-in-chief Andreas Lebert claims he was sick of altering images of already-underweight models. Lebert was able to combat the pressure that many in the fashion industry face: a pressure to keep up with the thin craze.

The French branch of Marie Claire magazine took inspiration from Lebert’s decision and from the announcement of the proposed bill. In April 2010, they released an entirely airbrush-free issue in support for the law. The feature article of the magazine was a fashion spread of French actress Louise Bourgoin looking suspiciously blemish free. The spread is surrounded by altered images plastered across the pages of outside advertisements, showing that everyone must become involved to fight the issue.

Photographer and blogger Benjamin Kanarek offers his own insight into the tactics of the magazine. He found evidence of classic photography tricks used in the days before Photoshop and airbrushing, such as burning out the skin with overexposure and using a half-blue filter to whiten skin. He believes that today’s photographers are so lacking in knowledge and technique, they rely on alteration to make their photos look simply acceptable.

Attempts to perfect stars’ looks in the media will always be made whether with lighting tricks or through Photoshop. Dominique Issermann, French fashion photographer and adversary of the proposed law, says: “The world finds its way. We still want heavenly people in heavenly light.” She argues that photography is never reality, but simply a piece of it. However, the perception of photographs is that they are assumed to be truth, in contrast to viewing a painting, which is more commonly understood to be interpretive.

Boyer’s proposal is beginning to spread throughout Europe. In October, the British government sat down with advertisers, fashion editors, and health experts to discuss ways to combat airbrushing and promote healthy body image. They, too, are pushing for a mandatory label warning consumers of photo alteration. The plan will not be forced on advertisers. Instead, advertisers are expected to take a voluntary stand and adjust their airbrushing practices themselves. Magazines in Australia have followed the movement by signing a code of conduct stating that they will refrain from altering photos.

The law brings up a passionate and confused question with an ever-changing answer: How does one define beauty? Airbrushed images of women and men create unhealthy and unobtainable ideals of beauty and blur the line between reality and fiction. Today the average model weighs 23 percent less than the average woman, while only 50 years ago the difference was a minor eight percent. The average woman stands at 5 feet 4 inches and weighs 140 pounds. However, the average model towers at 5 feet 11 inches and weighs a mere 117 pounds. Already the expectations for beauty are incredibly unrealistic. Add the effects of photo alteration and suddenly beauty becomes impossible.

Boyer’s law will help to combat that image of the idealized and unattainable woman. Although the law won’t directly affect Scripps students, the movement had to start somewhere and should be continued. France is setting an example for the rest of us to follow. If a country so centered around fashion can make a statement as strong as this one, it is only a matter of time until it reaches the United States.