Monique - Final Presentation

Photo shop is deadly.  It has the power to negatively affect our society in exponential ways.  Photo shop is responsible for the spike in eating disorders.  Photo shop is also responsible for the concerning obsession of our societies unrealistic portrayal of body image.  Women and men are constantly trying to fit a certain look that is completely unattainable because of the use of photo shop.  Because of our advancements in media, most everyone has access to media if they want to.  It is all around us.  It is hard to ignore because of such an easy access.  A professional Photo shopper explained that 99.9% of all photos shown in media have been enhanced and edited through photo shop.  This being said, nationaleatingdisorders.org has a statistic saying, “Of American elementary school girls who read magazines, 69% say that the pictures influence their concept of the ideal body shape.  47% say the pictures make them want to lose”(Martin 2010).  If we compare the two different statistics, we can see how powerful photo shop is on the minds of the youth and how commonly used it is.  Even though many people know that the photos they are seeing in pop culture are altered, people are unable to separate fantasy versus reality.  For this specific project, I had to become tech savvy and learn how to use Photoshop as if I were editing the covers for magazines.  I could have easily taken photographs of celebrities and altered them but I wanted this project to hit home for my audience so I decided to edit photos of myself.  My classmates see me around campus or in class each week and know how I look, for the most part.  What will shock my audience is to see how easily it is to completely transform a photo with a single application.  Although I cannot speak to a nation, I hope this project helps my classmates differentiate between what is real life and what is not.