Recently, fashion company Ralph Lauren took a lot of heat because of some overzealous Photoshopping they did that resulted in an already thin model looking like a bobble head. I would show you the image but, apparently Ralph Lauren and Co. have taken issue with other websites posting the image (next to critiques) and have sent the likes of Boing Boing and Photoshop Disasters letters warning them to either take down the offending image or face legal action. Photoshop Disasters has complied, but Boing Boing is calling their bluff. You can see the offending image here.
While attacking the above mentioned websites, Ralph Lauren simultaneously issued an ‘apology’ for it’s overzealous retouching:
For over 42 years, we have built a brand based on quality and integrity. After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman’s body.
We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the calibre of our artwork represents our brand appropriately.
Lauren is basically saying that this incident amounts to a technical glitch and is in no way representative of how the fashion industry in general (or Ralph Lauren in particular) understands or considers the female form. There is a long, documented history of tension between the ‘ideal’ woman regularly featured in the fashion and entertainment world and reality, where not everyone is a porcelain skinned size zero.
Although tools like Photoshop have made it easier for the fashion industry to create unrealistic and unattainable images of the human physique, contrary to what Lauren claims, it isn’t the poor use of a tool that resulted in this image but rather evolving perceptions about what constitutes beauty:
[Findings] show that from the turn of the century throughout the 1970s, the standard of physical attractiveness for women presented in the mass media became much thinner and less curvaceous … During the period from 1979 to 1988, Miss America contestants continued to decrease in body size and Playboy models maintained their already low body sizes … [This] has serious implications for women’s well-being. During the period from 1979 to 1988, 69% of Playboy models and 60% of Miss America contestants weighed 15% or more below the expected weight for their age and height category. The researchers note that according to the DSM III-R, maintaining body weight of 15% below one’s expected weight is a criterion for anorexia nervosa. Other researchers have also noted the prevalence of disordered eating among fashion models (e.g., Brenner & Cunningham, 1992) and the severe health risks associated with achieving a very thin body type. Women whose body fat falls below 22% are much more susceptible to infertility, amenorrhea, ovarian and endometrial cancer, and osteoporosis (Seid, 1989). (source)
Skeleton image by Perpetualplum.
Lomography is introducing a new generation to the unpredictable, serendipitous world of analog photography. Since re-introducing the simple-yet-flexible LC-A back into amateur photographers hands, the company has launched a wide range of mainly plastic film cameras that produce glorious results.
Although the cameras are available through a number of re-sellers (including Urban Outfitters), the best place to browse and ask about them are the official Gallery stores.
The last 12 months has seen the opening of both the first American store (in New York – pictured above), and most recently, the first British store (in London; September 2009). Perhaps in-keeping with the popular anti-popularist nature of the company, the stores seem to be located in almost central areas: just off the busy streets of the West Village in New York, and just off the busy Carnaby Street of London.
An insider tells us that they have aggressive expansion plans, with new Gallery Stores planned for most major American cities in the coming months.
The Minox camera was first manufactured in 1937. Designed as an ultra-portable camera, it first found favour at the luxury end of the market.
Due to it’s sub-minitaure size and ability to focus on nearby objects (around 18-20cm+), it soon became popular as a tool of espionage. Intelligence agencies from America to Germany were ‘snapping it up’ for use in-the-field.
With stylish gadget looks and well-earned notoriety, film studios were bound to adopt the Minox; most famously James Bond films, but also modern titles such as Grosse Point Blank and Charlie’s Angels.
In recent times, improved miniaturisation and optical technologies have produced smaller and better devices; today most of us carry around the equivalent of a high-quality spy camera on our mobile phones. In keeping with modern technologies, a digital Minox was recently released – the DSC (‘Digital Spy Camera’) – but it lacks the beautiful aluminium styling of the earlier models, or the pleasing mechanical sounds of exposure.
In some ways the camera represents the transformation of the spy industry; from the analog days of relying on charisma and stealth, to the modern digital age where spying is often nothing more than a $5 USB stick and open source key-logging software. Sure, it’s better, safer and easier, but it doesn’t look as good in the movies.
Minox Model B photograph by david4bruce, Minox DSC photograph copyright Amazon
Like many things designed for consumer simplicity, the Polaroid Instant Film is a fairly complex piece of technology, with about 20 individual components in each pack.
Production of this complex technology ceased in 2008, but with the recent resurgence of analog photography, The Impossible Project purchased one of the Dutch factories and are now aiming to streamline the manufacturing process to produce a new, hi-tech Instant Film. You may have already heard of the project with the recent release of the final batch of old film through Urban Outfitters.
The team are using the power of the internet to aid their quest, asking for public answers to their difficult problems, such as the fifth of their seven big challenges:
We urgently need Latex that can easily be coated on gelatin base. Thickness of the dried layer is about 2 micron. The developer used in instant film is a viscous solution, containing 2N alkaline.
The team say they have exactly 12 months to complete their mission, and from the look of the countdown clock on the website, the time runs out at the end of 2009.
Polaroid Instant Film illustration copyright The Impossible Project.
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