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How Much Did Vogue Photoshop Lena Dunham?
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 15, 2014
Modified Jan 16, 2014
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 15, 2014
Modified Jan 16, 2014
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While this whole scene looks fake, how much was Dunham really Photoshopped? (Vogue)
Every woman in a glossy magazine has been Photoshopped; that is, unfortunately, the mass media phantasmagoria we live in. So when it was announced that Lena Dunham would get the cover treatment in Vogue, the unfortunate first question to pop up was: how much will Wintour's team Photoshop a woman who doesn't meet their emaciated fat-free cookie-cutter standards? The photos from the spread have now been released, and while they didn't bobblehead her, some believe they did overuse the retouching tool (Jezebel also points out that they took an arm out of one shot).
A missing arm. (Vogue)
Some of the mixed opinions may be coming from the look of the spread overall: Annie Leibovitz photographed this, and the style is a bit luminous and unreal. A conversation:
Kristina Monllos: So much Photoshop [in Lena Dunham's Vogue spread] that it's offensive
Jen Carlson: I was wondering about that—how much they would do
Kristina: They really fucked with her body, and of course they use a close up of her face for the cover. I just can't... I can't anymore. Magazines are too predictably awful. People on my Facebook feed were already talking about how they need that "Photoshop diet." The one where she's being carried by Adam... So, you put a ton of crazy feathers on a person, so we don't notice her "offensive" size, and then shrink her in Photoshop. Cool, cool... great message.
Jen: I can't really see it that much though—she always looks tiny in comparison to Adam... and she kind of is tiny! When I've seen her in person and she's wearing normal clothes and not the intentionally ill-fitting clothes on the show. I feel like for anyone else they would have 'shopped this way more, so Dunham may have had some control. Like her wrists where they bend here? That would have normally been reduced on someone else.
(Vogue)
At the very least we can all agree that Photoshop is being used for too much evil and not enough Weiner, and that the pigeon photo is pretty dope.
Tagged
girls
Lena Dunham
photoshop
vogue
original
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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