14 DAY TRIAL // It’s no longer a secret that magazines are heavily into digitally altering the images they run in their pages, but the extent to which this practice has been taken is truly starting to alarm the public and industry insiders alike. Kelly Clarkson is featured in the current issue of Self magazine and is the latest to have received the instant beauty and slimming “treatment,” much to the outrage of her fans: it’s OK though, Editor-in-Chief Lucy Danziger says in a post on the official Self page, because pics in magazines are not meant to reflect reality either way.
The controversy has been raging for about a week now, reaching a climax the other day, as the behind the scene video with the singer was made available online. If anyone had doubts until then that Clarkson was looking slimmer, younger and more beautiful on the Self cover than in real life, all those doubts were swept away by the sharp contrast provided by the video. What made matters even worse with fans was that Danzinger continues to insist that whatever retouching they did to the photos, it was because they wanted to present Kelly “at her best.”
Ironically enough, in the accompanying interview, Kelly stresses that she couldn’t be happier with her body than she is at the present moment, adding that whoever has a problem with her weight should just step back because she, for one, has none. With all this, Self went to extreme lengths to “shave off” many pounds of her frame – all in the view of making her look “her best,” as Danzinger puts it. Moreover, the editor adds in the same post, it’s not like magazine photos are meant to look real, but rather as a fantasy that should inspire women to want to look this good as well.
“We allow the postproduction process to happen, where we mark up the photograph to correct any awkward wrinkles in the blouse, flyaway hair and other things that might detract from the beauty of the shot. This is art, creativity and collaboration. It’s not, as in a news photograph, journalism. It is, however, meant to inspire women to want to be their best. That is the point... Did we alter her appearance? Only to make her look her personal best. Did we publish an act of fiction? No. Not unless you think all photos are that. But in the sense that Kelly is the picture of confidence, and she truly is, then I think this photo is the truest we have ever put out there on the newsstand.” Danzinger explains.
The fact that the editor then goes on to say that she too retouches her own photos before sending them out to family and friends did not, as she might have hoped, calm down spirits but rather the contrary, with fans saying that because she does it doesn’t make it right. By altering Clarkson’s photo, Self magazine made her look like a hypocrite for allowing her image to be modified when she claims she’s comfortable with her body. By altering on it not only the stray hairs or the wrinkles in the top, but also shaving off many pounds and virtually changing her entire bone structure, Self is sending out the wrong message – and Kelly Clarkson herself should feel insulted by what the mag has done, fans are saying.
As of now, Kelly Clarkson has yet to address the controversy in any way.