5.2
MANIPULATING IMAGES
48
READING
1
Work with a partner to discuss the following.
1
What do you think of the two photos of the same
person in the article?
2
Is it acceptable to manipulate images of people in
advertising?
2
You are going to read a
fBE
and
agaiAFG
article in a
magazine on the above topic. Work in pairs.
Student A:
Read the
FOR
text on this page.
Student B:
Read the
AGAINST
text on page 158.
Scan your texts and find out what it says about these
people. Then share your information with your partner.
1
Amanda Fortini
2
Julia Roberts
3
Kate Winslet
4
Britney Spears
5
Christine Laurent
6
Brad Pitt
7
Chuck Close
3
a
Read your text again and make notes on the
key points.
3
b
Work with your partner. Using only your notes,
summarise your text for your partner.
4
Evaluating arguments
Which arguments do you
think are stronger –
fBE
or
agaiAFG
? Why?
5
Text reference
Look at the
fBE
text again and decide
who or what the highlighted words refer to.
VOCABULARY
WORDS WITH A SIMILAR MEANING
6
a
Look at these verbs from the texts connected to
‘change’. Match them to their meanings below.
alter enhance manipulate distort exaggerate
1
to improve something
2
to skilfully control or move something
3
to change
4
to change the shape or sound of something
5
to make something seem better, larger, worse, etc.
than it really is
6
b
Complete the sentences with an appropriate form
of the verbs in Exercise 6a. Use each verb only once.
1
Her face had not
much over the years.
2
You can
photos using various software
programmes.
3
Tall buildings can
radio signals.
4
Benitez said everyone hated him, but he was
.
5
Salt
the flavour of food.
In recent years, digitally manipulating images, or ‘photoshopping’,
has become increasingly common, particularly in the advertising
industry. It is now usual practice for the photos of celebrities and
models to be retouched and altered to make them look more
physically ‘perfect’ than they really are. Photoshopping has caused
a great deal of controversy over the years, with those against it
arguing that it promotes an unrealistic and distorted image of what
people, particularly women, look like.
But is photoshopping as bad as many people believe? An expert
on fashion, Amanda Fortini, certainly does not think so. She
writes articles on fashion and popular culture for the
New York
Times
and has come out strongly in defence of photoshopping
images. She argues that adult women and men are well aware that
images of celebrities are retouched. She quotes Christine Laurent,
editor of a French fashion magazine, to support her opinion, ‘Our
readers are not idiots, especially when they see those celebrities
who are 50 and look 23.’ Her point is that young people have
seen programmes about airbrushing on television and in the
newspapers. They are not without knowledge of the techniques
advertisers use.
Fortini also points out that images of famous people have been
altered and exaggerated for many years – this technique is
not new. Ever since advertising began, images of a beautiful,
wealthy and youthful world have been used to sell products.
We should accept that airbrushed images are a fiction, a
fantasy. We should enjoy them , not criticise them.
Manipulated images are powerful. Some are subtle and others
are instantly recognisable as fakes. Many are witty. We want
to manipulate the world in which we live and this is reflected
in our willingness to produce and consume those images.
Advertisers should be free to produce whatever images they
think are beautiful and will help sell their products.
So is it acceptable to manipulate images? Of course it is.
Amanda Fortini is right. We know what images are fake, and
we should use our critical skills when viewing images. As she
says, ‘The problem isn’t altered photos, it’s our failure to alter
our expectations of them.’
FOR
IS IT ACCEPTABLE TO
MANIPULATE IMAGES
IN ADVERTISING?
