The Latest Panasonic Camera – With Built in ‘Beauty Retouch’
I am sure in this modern day we are all aware of how photographs can be digitally manipulated and altered through editing programs such as Photoshop. We are so used to see advertising in magazines and on billboards of poreless and flawless women (and men) that I would hope we are all becoming very aware that the image we seen in final print is often drastically different to the one taken in real life.
I wonder what is going to happen to our media literacy and awareness though with the introduction of the latest camera from Panasonic; the Lumix FX77? Unlike camera’s before it, this camera actually has a ‘built in’ editing component specifically designed to do things such as whiten teeth, remove wrinkles and add lipstick. I’m not making this up!
- Panasonic ‘Beauty Re-Toucher’
While I know we have probably all had experiences of seeing a photograph taken of ourselves that we consider ‘less than flattering’ or not capturing of our ‘best side’ – is this really the way we want the capturing of ourselves and others in photographic memories to go? Is there soon going to be a time when we literally will never see images of people (even ourselves and our family and friends) as we truly are? Of course we know this can happen with an editing program now anyway, but it requires a great deal more time, effort and skill than pressing a button on your camera immediately after a photo is taken, giving your skin an airbrushed finish and your lips a slick of gloss.
The saddest part of this for me though is the supposed reasons behind why the camera with this built in retouching has been made in the first place. According to the Project Manager, Akiko Enoki who has been in charge of developing the camera, approximately 50 percent of Panasonic clients are not satisfied with the way their faces look in a photograph…”so we came up with the idea so our clients can fix parts they don’t like about their faces after they’ve taken the picture.” Wow.
Opportunistic and cashing in on someone’s negative body image and self esteem or a tool to help people feel happier about how their image is portrayed?
What do you think Beautiful You?
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[...] new camera has come out that automatically retouches the photo as you take it. Now you can do at home what we is done in magazines and on billboards [...]
I think this is encouraging poor (and unrealistic) self-image. It’s essentially saying that people shouldn’t be satisfied with themselves as they really are. I also think there’s a subtle hint of suggestion that even if you’re satisfied with your looks, there’s always something you can (and should) do to be “better”. And that somebody other than you has already defined what “better” looks like.
I agree and am concerned this is the sort of thing that gives people the consistent message – you are not ok as you are – there is always room for improvement – we can make you look better. What an awful message!
A concerning concept.
That said, I think the immediate self-censoring digital cameras provide (take the photo, look at the photo on the viewer, delete the photo if it’s unflattering) already heighten the paranoia about ever taking a bad pic. I’m embarrassed to say I’ve spent most of the day in a funk about pictures of me posted on Facebook that don’t flatter my chunky arms / legs / gut…
I would hope I wouldn’t use this function if it were readily available, but I am guilty of deleting ugly photos – is that really any worse?
Ellie – I think it’s fine to delete photo’s we don’t fully like of ourselves, particularly as now they can appear in such public online places which was certainly not the case a decade or so ago. I have done that too. I think that quite different though to creating a camera that automatically can create an image that is not a fully true representation of what someone looks like, especially when the reason for its creation is market research by a company that shows people don’t like the way they look. Concerning indeed!
I think the next big technology will be an adaptation of this to the common, garden-variety mirror such as might be found in any bathroom or (what a thought!) dressing room – that way, we will never, ever, have to face what we really look like. Some days, that might be a good thing, but I still have a bad feeling about it.
I have a BAD feeling about that too Marsha! That’s a scary thought indeed.
I dont like all my pic’s honest I delete more then I keep but I work hard to look like I do and want to see the REAL me also I have two young (6 and 9) girls who all ready ask for retouches on school photos (they do not get it retouched) just another way to TRY and make us feel less then perfect with ourselfs.
No matter how many photo’s you (or me, or anyone else) deletes Samantha the main point as you say is to see the real you in photo’s you do keep and share.