Ruby McKenzie
By seeing how celebrities like Kim Kardashian edit images, a commercial photographer is promoting digital media literacy.
Caroline Ross, a TikToker, wants to educate her fans on how brands and celebrities distort their images. Ross recently went viral for his analysis of a photo shoot with Kim Kardashian in a pool. The photographer immediately saw the changes made by Kardashian’s editors.
Watch in a day as this plain Brooklyn bedroom is transformed into a getaway from the 1950s:
“Nerd out with me and test your media literacy skills! Can you tell what is fake in this image?” the caption read.
Kardashian is “notorious for Photoshopping out her traps,” according to Ross. The muscles with a trapezoid form that project over the shoulders and neck are known as the trapezius muscles. They’re a rather ordinary feature of the body, so you might never notice if they’ve been altered in a photograph.
The photographer suggested that “maybe made her neck look thinner” after editing them off. Ross showed the visual distortion by pointing to the slick area of water directly behind her neck.
To reconstruct the image, she using Photoshop’s Liquify tool. She then contrasted it with the raw film from the shot. The altered image that Kardashian released was crystal clear.
Ross’ video racked up over 7 million views on TikTok.
“The fact that I would never have noticed but it’s painfully obvious after the fact,” a person wrote.
“Well this explains why I never like my shoulder in pictures,” another said.
“I sware the Kardashians Instagrams are why I have body image issues,” a user lamented.
“I don’t understand why they do it, the non-edited original is so much better looking,” someone added.
“Honestly IDC about the fact that they do it; I care more about the fact they deny it/ avoid talking about it. Like it’s okay just be honest,” a TikToker replied.
