GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

Censorship of images in the Soviet Union

This image taken by the Moscow Canal was taken when Nikolai Yezhov was water commissar. After he fell from power, he was arrested, shot, and his image removed by the censors.

On November 7, 1919 this image was snapped of the Soviet leadership celebrating the second anniversary of the October Revolution. After Trotsky and his allies fell from power, a number of figures were removed from the image, including Trotsky and two people over to Lenin's left, wearing glasses and giving a salute.

Meanwhile, how can the public know if the they are looking at "real" images? The quick answer from those in the industry is - they can't.

"When you look at a magazine, 98% of what you see in the fashion industry is unreal," Apelbaum says. "We have taken the human beauty to an extreme that beauty itself cannot compete with."

http://insite.artinstitutes.edu/picture-imperfect-digital-image-manipulation-ethics-19962.aspx

In a shockingly ironic twist, the issue she appeared on was titled “The Body Confidence Issue” and featured an interview inside where she explained how comfortable she felt with her body:

“My happy weight changes,” Clarkson says in the September issue of SELF. “Sometimes I eat more; sometimes I play more. I’ll be different sizes all the time. When people talk about my weight, I’m like, ‘You seem to have a problem with it; I don’t. I’m fine!’ I’ve never felt uncomfortable on the red carpet or anything.”

“Yes, of course we do post-production corrections on our images. Photoshopping is an industry standard,” she stated. “Kelly Clarkson exudes confidence, and is a great role model for women of all sizes and stages of their life. She works out and is strong and healthy, and our picture shows her confidence and beauty. She literally glows from within. That is the feeling we’d all want to have. We love this cover and we love Kelly Clarkson.”

“Did we alter her appearance? Only to make her look her personal best…But in the sense that Kelly is the picture of confidence, and she truly is, then I think this photo is the truest we have ever put out there on the newsstand.”

When women compare themselves to a standard of beautiful, average and healthy that simply doesn’t exist in real life, the battle for healthy body image is already lost.

U.K. Bans Two Retouched Makeup Ads For Being ‘Misleading’

Turns out, not even celebrities have skin this nice.
A British advertising watchdog is cracking down on two L’Oreal foundation ads after a Liberal Democrat MP, Jo Swinson, complained that they pass off airbrushing as makeup results. Swinson, who’s known for crusading against advertisers who portray unrealistic and “misleading” images of women, has brought complaints against a Julia Roberts Lancôme ad and a Christy Turlington Maybelline ad (both Lancôme and Maybelline are owned by L’Oreal) to the Advertising Standards Authority, reports the Guardian.
(PHOTOS: Doctored Photos: The Art of the Altered Image)
Her issue? The ads are purporting the effects of make-up, when in reality they’re showcasing the effects of Photoshop. “Pictures of flawless skin and super-slim bodies are all around, but they don’t reflect reality,” Swinson told the Guardian. “Excessive airbrushing and digital manipulation techniques have become the norm.”
Guy Parker, chief executive of the ASA, told the BBC, “if advertisers go too far in using airbrushing and other post-production techniques to alter the appearance of models and it’s likely to mislead people, then that’s wrong and we’ll stop the ads.”
The BBC reports that when the ASA took the complaints to L’Oreal and requested to see the untouched images for comparison, the cosmetics company refused. Since the company failed to come up with the before shots, which is a requirement for make-up advertisers, the ASA had no other choice but to ban the ads. Meanwhile, we have no other choice but to wonder: just how bad were the before shots?