Thanks to digital image manipulation techniques, models and actresses can have perfect bodies, no cellulite and flawless complexions when they are depicted in magazines. According to a recent article in the UK telegraph, the same techniques are now being used in reverse to make gaunt models look fuller-figured. Apparently “Fashion magazines are manipulating images of skinny models to make them look “fatter” than they really are”.

According to a representative from one of the popular retouching agencies:

“It is now deemed just as negative to be too thin as too fat. Everyone is scared of being highlighted as the magazine or label that promotes very thin girls, so they are being a lot more careful about the images they present.”

But Susan Ringwood, who is chief executive of eating disorder charity “Beat”, responded negatively to this practice, saying that it acknowledges the issues associated with projecting the images of very thin models, but misses the point: “They should be using naturally healthy models in the first instance, instead of having to make them look that way.”

I’d love to see a magazine filled with pictures of models and actors that have not been retouched at all. How do you feel about digital photo enhancement in magazines?

Ps. The celebrity gossip site Jossip has some hilarious reporting on the use of Photoshop to alter our favorite celebrities in print.