Another day, another Photoshop opp - or fail, as the case may be. Remember the Target modelwho had half her vagenda airbrushed out and her arms extended by about 4 feet by overealous photoshoppers, earlier this year?
Actively slimming photographs of yourself down, or airbrushing out your spots, is something plenty of bloggers and celebrities (controversially) do - but they have autonomy over their decision. 23-year-old Australian model Meaghan Kausman is the latest of many models to see a digital representation of their form which differs wildly from their IRL image.
Meaghan posed for a series of underwater pictures for underwater photographer Pip Summerville, wearing a swimwear label called Fella Swim (she was not shooting a campaign for them - merely wearing their swimwear.) To her dismay she then saw a picture of herself, 'slimmed down' on Fella Swim's Instagram page.
Posting the photo on her own account, Meaghan wrote:
'I recently did a photoshoot wearing Fella Swim, with an extremely passionate and talented underwater photographer, Pip, @seagypsea_photography Her photos are magical; they capture women in water and celebrate their beauty. This morning I was extremely shocked to see that Fella Swim had uploaded a photoshopped version of Pip’s original photo to their Instagram page. They had drastically altered my body, thinning out my stomach and thighs in an attempt to box me in to the cultural ideal of beauty. Above is their version, below is the real version. My body is a size 8, not a size 4. That’s my body! I refuse to stand by and allow ANY company or person to perpetuate the belief that 'thinner is better'. All women are beautiful, and we come in different shapes and sizes! This industry is crazy!!!! It is NOT OKAY to alter a woman’s body to make it look thinner. EVER!'
She's pretty sure about where she stands on the matter. As is her father, who happens to be a famous Australian physician and body image expert. He has since spoken on Australian news channels about 'how problematic photoshopping is'.
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Fella Swim have since removed the photograph and apologised, but it does raise interesting points about picture rights on Instagram - Fella Swim obviously didn't ask Meaghan's permission to photoshop her, but they actually didn't ask Pip's permission to post her photo, either. Photographic authenticity is becoming increasingly thorny and complex, with the advent of apps like Instagram. And so, it seems, is a truthful portrayal of a woman's body. In, or out, of water.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.