Nothing is “picture perfect”

TO HER PORTRAIT
by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
(Translation by Samuel Beckett)

This coloured counterfeit that thou beholdest,
vainglorious with excellencies of art,
is, in fallacious syllogisms of colour,
nought but a cunning dupery of sense;

this in which flattery has undertaken
to extenuate the hideousness of years,
and, vanquishing the outrages of time,
to triumph o’er oblivion and old age,

is an empty artifice of care,
is a fragile flower in the wind,
is a paltry sanctuary from fate,

is a foolish sorry labour lost,
is conquest doomed to perish and, well taken,
is corpse and dust, shadow and nothingness.

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Since when did the sight of a photographer inspire angst greater than going to the dentist for a root canal?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say, “I hate having my picture taken.” It’s common to dread seeing oneself in a photograph. Most of the time, the camera tells the truth about how we look as the years pass. Photoshop may be able to remove the wrinkles, but we are still faced with our eventual mortality.

After taking a series of headshots for a Cleveland company this month — and hearing “I hate having my picture taken” many times that day — I was reminded of a poem by a 17th-century Mexican poet named Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. Photography didn’t exist in her day, but portraiture was a common practice. And just as we use Photoshop to take away a few years or a few pounds, an artist would use a paint brush to hide the march of time from his or her subjects.

And yet, as Sor Juana suggests, the final product is a counterfeit; the modifications are a slap in the face. When we see ourselves in those circumstances, perhaps we are reminded of a standard of beauty that we can’t live up to. We will never again be 16 or 17 (the average age of a model on the pages of a beauty magazine) and we will get wrinkles. Why can’t we accept that?

In recent years, U.S. and international advertising regulators have been moving toward banning the use of Photoshop in advertising when it is misleading to consumers. Just last week, Proctor & Gamble agreed to stop running an ad for its CoverGirl mascara because the images were “enhanced in post-production” to make eyelashes look thicker than in real life.

It’s time to stop believing the hype so we can reconnect with our natural beauty, which comes from our personality, character, confidence, intellect, passion, kindness, poise and soul. Next time you step in front of camera, think of something that makes you happy or something that makes you beam with pride. Another photographer I work with, Janet Macoska, will ask subjects about their favorite pet or their children.

You’ll be surprised at how this exercise can transform a mere snapshot into a beautiful portrait of a unique individual — no Photoshop required.