Abstract
Focusing on the visual media practices of professional photographic retouchers working in the New York fashion and beauty industry, this paper explores how the body is being reproduced within a modern fashion system. I foreground retouchers’ distinctive ethical imaginaries and attempts to construct “inclusive” visual objectifications. Such imperatives are most explicit in techniques they refer to as “compositing” (verb), a term which references selective, compositional practices that combine multiple socioculturally-marked visual elements. This study points to a parallax of ethical intentions marked by competing media ideologies: while public critics seek to decrease prevalence of retouching, retouchers instead argue that more, expertly engineered and thoughtfully engaged retouching practices can generate a more ethical and inclusive media world.
Presenters
Matthew Raj WebbStudent, PhD Candidate, Department of Anthropology (Culture & Media), New York University, NY, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Production Culture, Visual Expertise, Fashion and Beauty Industry, Body Standards