Becoming media literate

Do you know how much of what you see is doctored in some way? If it’s in a print magazine, it’s pretty likely that what you are seeing is an image and not a photo.  What’s the difference between an image and a photo?  Well, a photo is just that- a captured moment.  In the print media world, an image is a captured moment that has been altered/ enhanced in someway.  Here are some examples.

Faith Hill's Redbook Cover and the original photo

Men aren't immune. Clive Owen in an ad and Clive Owen in real life.

Jennifer Aniston, the same photo shoot: pre-photoshop and post.

Too often, we look at magazines and say, “I wish I looked like her.”  The sad truth is that most of the people you are looking at don’t look that way either.  We’re comparing ourselves to images that are unreal, setting ourselves up to embrace standards that are impossible to reach.  Just for today, eye the media in your life with the awareness that most of it is altered in order to create the illusion of perfection.

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