Cate Blanchett, the 42-year-old Academy Award winning actress, has made a very bold decision, going against the trend and appearing on the cover of a magazine with no photoshop touch ups around the same time Demi Moore comes under fire to a photoshoot with too many touch ups.

In a society where almost no photo-shoots are complete without some kind of photoshop adjustment, and where some governments are considering the illegal nature of this "false advertising", "The Economist" and Cate Blanchett decided to go natural for the cover of "Intelligent Life", the bi-monthly style and culture magazine from "The Economist".  Commenting on the cover shoot on the magazine's official website, editor Tim de Lisle said,

"When other magazines photograph actresses, they routinely end up running heavily Photoshopped images, with every last wrinkle expunged. Their skin is rendered so improbably smooth that, with the biggest stars, you wonder why the photographer didn’t just do a shoot with their waxwork."

Tim de Lisle accuses magazines of trying to have the best of both worlds, wanting a known celebrity, but also wanting an "empty vessel" that they can alter and shape to push any product they want.  Blanchett's natural cover shoot is in stark contrast to a recent Helena Rubinstein fragrance ad featuring 49-year-old Demi Moore which is currently under fire for too much photoshop touch ups, including a change of eye color, erasing of facial lines, and altering the shape of Moore's nose and cheekbones.  For this cover, Tim de Lisle wanted the focus to be on Blanchett as a person and a business woman, and not on her beauty,

"Cate Blanchett, by contrast, appears on our cover in her working clothes, with the odd line on her face and faint bags under her eyes. She looks like what she is—a woman of 42, spending her days in an office, her evenings on stage and the rest of her time looking after three young children. We can’t be too self-righteous about it, because, like anyone else who puts her on a cover, we are benefiting from her beauty and distinction. But the shot is at least trying to reflect real life. It’s a curious sign of the times that this has become something to shout about."

So far, neither Demi Moore the Helena Rubenstein company have commented about the controversy building around her unrealistic photos.

Seeing the difference in the shots, what are your thoughts on the use of photoshop in magazine photoshoots?  Is it just a tool to get the best possible picture, or a version of "false advertising"?

 

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