• AAU Lens
Menu

ART U Lens

  • AAU Lens
Mario Testino, Kate Moss, London, National Portrait Gallery, 2001

Mario Testino, Kate Moss, London, National Portrait Gallery, 2001

Digital Makeup

March 20, 2017

by Sarah Hayes

I was recently scrolling through British Vogue’s website (one of my favorite pastimes) when I stumbled across an interview with portrait photographer Mario Testino.

I have been an avid Testino fan for many years, especially after I experienced his exhibition ‘Portraits’ at The National Portrait Gallery in London in 2002. However, something caught my eye within the interview, regarding the notion of retouching within the photography industry. A close friend shared a unique point of view concerning retouching with Testino …

“The new generation has access to all these tools where you can retouch everything yourself on your phone… I talk to girls who put their selfie’s on their Instagram; they retouch everything, and that’s their prerogative. I mean, people put on makeup, dye their hair, [get] fake teeth, contact lenses. Why not?” (Testino)

Testino is not a huge fan of retouching, it can be seen that he prefers to maintain natural artifacts “To me, something without flaws isn’t exciting. Perfection I find quite boring because it’s not real. It doesn’t have a consequence at the end of the day.” (Testino)

Testino is currently working with Dove in their new campaign, which he describes as “ Working on inclusion.” He goes on to say, “When you retouch skin to perfection, you are excluding a lot of people who could never get to that [ideal]. By allowing all those things to exist, you’re opening that door to make a lot of people believe they are beautiful as well.”

The practice of retouching seems to always get such bad press, yet when I read this interview, it did make me think a lot. We retouch ourselves everyday, through the countless beauty products that are available to us. We want to look our very ‘best’ when we have our photo taken, but why is make up so much more acceptable than digital retouching? If retouching is so demeaning to individuals in the masking of ‘truths’ then why don’t we stand in front of the camera with no make up on? Is this not a little contradictory?

http://www.vogue.com/article/photographer-mario-testino-real-beauty-dove-campaign-model-no-retouching

Work Cited

Regensdorf, Laura. "A Legendary Fashion Photographer Talks Real Beauty, Retouching, and Body Positivity on Instagram." Vogue. Vogue, 04 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Mar. 2017.

← The Alternative Photographs of Gen AiharaSculptor Or Photographer. Why not both? →

ABOUT

Academy of Art's School of Photography shares news and insight.

  • Learn 15
  • Look 24
  • Welcome 1

Subscribe

Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates.

We respect your privacy.

Thank you!

Latest & Greatest

Repost from @seraphlia1212
•
“GROWING” From AKA’s wonderland
Visual Version Two
___________________________________________
#seraphlia
MUA @s.y._angelpotts
Model @Jovanmello @lookmodelagency
Jewelry Designer: @Akazhangartwork
P @bai_photographer Xiaodan Bai #student 

Architecture photography class with @pargast Patrik Argast instructor @academy_of_art Repost from @davidarnoldphotography
•
From the series India Streets: bit.ly/IndiaStreets. Rickshaw Driver in Traffic, Varanasi, India.
.
.
.
.
.
#photoproject  #traveldeeper #passionpassport #ourplanetdaily #everydayasia
#street_photography #art Repost from @davidarnoldphotography
•
Cottonwood Stump, Haze, Washoe Lake, Nevada,
.
.
.
.
#infraredphoto #infraredlandscape #infrared_images #infrared_master #infrared #aauphoto #sycamore #photocomposition #fineartphotography #conceptphotograph Repost from @yanamyphotography
•
Second scene from my new project about San Francisco
Model - @mashayun "The eye should learn to listen before it looks." 
- Robert Frank

Repost from @thehopfs
•
Wasted Youth.
@academy_of_art Repost from @brightwood_photos
•Nicholas Shirley #alumni 
I’ve started using a Celestial Tracker which allows me to take longer exposures of the night sky. This is the galactic core of the Milky Way shot with an 85mm lens
#nightsky #nikon Repost from @brightwood_photos
• Nicholas Shirley #alumni 
Point Reyes shipwreck
#stars #nightsky #nikonshooter #sanfrancisco #nikon
Featured
Eddie Edwards.png
Nov 4, 2022
In-Class Guest Speaker: Eddie Edwards
Nov 4, 2022
Read More →
Nov 4, 2022
thumbnail_Wednesday.jpg
Nov 4, 2022
In-Class Guest Speaker: Xiaopeng "Lucien" Liu
Nov 4, 2022
Read More →
Nov 4, 2022
  • Art U Photography
    News from ART U Lens for 11/05/2022 - https://t.co/wxu8UNibHd
    Nov 5, 2022, 2:01 PM
  • Art U Photography
    News from ART U Lens for 08/13/2022 - https://t.co/aIHDGtjBJw
    Aug 13, 2022, 2:01 PM
Photos, articles, and interviews are copyright of individual contributors.