The Revenge of Photoshop

Well, here is something marvellous. Thanks to Autumn Whitefield-Madrano at The Beheld, I came across the work of artist Danny Evans at Planet Hiltron, who is performing a public service by turning Photoshop against its masters.

Guess who? Not quite Jack Sparrow…

Evans alters images of celebrities to make them look… not like celebrities, but instead like ordinary people who cannot hire a personal trainer or spend $2000 a week on their hair. Apart from his penchant for styling his victims circa 1985, this reminder of just how much work goes into red carpet beauty is both chilling and delightful.

A while ago I wrote about how few of us could turn down a little retouching on our own images (or selves), but perhaps I should rethink that: Photoshop can be cruel as well as kind, and there is a real danger in people’s images being infinitely changeable – extreme cosmetic surgery seems to grow from this ‘transformative’ and beauty-centric attitude. There is something to be said for the belief that you can be whoever you want to be, but when this is applied to beauty, as it so often is, the only people who seem to gain are the CEOs of L’Oreal and pals.

I would like to end on a lighter note though, in line with Evans’ experiment. After all, the field of beauty is sadly short on laughs.

Which other famous beauties would you like to see receiving the Photoshop Revenge? I vote for Jon Bon Jovi, who looks more like a Ken doll every year.