She Got Fired for Being Too Fat

Photoshopped models would require disclaimer

(NEWSER) - If you're going to airbrush a woman in an ad, you must include a disclaimer exposing the wrinkle-hiding, curve-thinning lie—at least if an Arizona lawmaker gets her way. The proposed bill seeks to make it illegal in the state for advertisers to enhance a photograph without attaching a note that reads: "Postproduction techniques were made to alter the appearance in this advertisement. When using this product, similar results may not be achieved," reports the Arizona Republic . More»

Labels digitally altered images from 1 to 5

(NEWSER) - Highly altered images of models and celebrities in fashion magazines have come under increasing scrutiny, with France even proposing that all airbrushed pictures come packaged with a health warning . A new tool could make that easier, as it analyzes photographs to detect digital retouching, Wired reports. Publishers have “gone a little too far,” explains the Dartmouth specialist who helped create the tool, adding that there are “negative consequences” associated with a barrage of such images. The new tool would rank images from 1, or barely altered, to 5. It takes into account geometric adjustments (slimming the hips, widening the eyes) as well as photometric adjustments (removing wrinkles, changing skin tone), Mother Nature Network notes. More»

Nothing, as long as you view it as art

(NEWSER) - We love to hate retouched photos (click here , here , or here for evidence)—but why? We claim to be concerned about the self-esteem of young girls who might be influenced by these unrealistic pictures, but the truth is, "the endless cavalcade of before-and-after shots is an outgrowth of the voyeurism, gossipmongering, and schadenfreude that fuel our celebrity industrial complex," writes Amanda Fortini in New York . Because we want to see stars "in all their wrinkled, full-figured glory," websites and magazines keep making a big deal about these images. More»

Of course, most of them still look great...

(NEWSER) - Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson both got attention recently by releasing unretouched photos, but they’re far from the first celebs to do so. The Daily Beast found eight more—check them out in the gallery:

• Kim Kardashian: The reality star wasn’t upset when Complex posted the wrong—un-Photoshopped—version of her picture, going so far as to repost it herself and later pose for an unretouched Life & Style cover.
• Sarah Palin: In perhaps one of the first instances when a magazine was scolded for not digitally manipulating an image, Newsweek sparked the ire of some conservative critics by allowing its Palin cover shot to show laugh lines and pores.

Once touted as the next big thing, model simply got too big

(NEWSER) - Gemma Ward was discovered at 14, became Vogue’s youngest cover model at 16, and landed more than 20 Vogue covers by 19—but today, at just 22 and a few pounds heavier than she once was, Ward’s modeling career appears to be over. Speculation about her size began in 2006, and by 2007—when she wore what one article called a “not so itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny Chanel bikini” during a Paris fashion week show—one fashion editor “almost didn’t recognize her,” the journalist tells the New York Post . More»