Imperfections: skin in image retouching

There's a lot of image editing being shared everywhere now, on social media and forums online. People asking for critique and people simply showing the work they took a while to produce and are proud of. Every now and then, someone shows an image of a young lady with a skin originally covered with pimples, freckles, dark spots, that were completely removed with Photoshop. Comments get divided between supporting and condemning this "fix".

For practical purposes, when a photograph is to be used by a professional who is networking online and in person, removing all skin imperfections is definitely not a good idea. It gives the viewer a very unrealistic first impression, and when meeting in person or when viewing a video or another image without those "fixes", the stark difference can come as a shock. The best thing to do is have the photographs a bit cleaner than in person, but not too much; a favorable, "ease-in" first presentation that will linger through as the contacts continue.

When it's a "vanity shot", though, many people believe it's acceptable or desirable to make the skin perfect and smooth. A few corrections here and there might in fact improve the image and make it look good; but when it completely changes the subject, is it worth doing? Freckles specifically, which are really a characteristic of the subject, they just make the portrait more interesting, gives it more personality. Scars and moles are also part of that person's story, as well as the relationship that person has with their own appearance and presence. And this is what brings strength to the portrait.

(Not to mention that many times those "fixes" diminish the expression lines that bring life to the photograph.)

Sometimes, a few spots should indeed be fixed, when they are taking attention away from the person's expression. But generally speaking, skin imperfections are part of the story being told. And the story is king.

I wouldn't go as far as Friedrich Nietzsche, but there's maybe some truth in what he said: "To experience a thing as beautiful means: to experience it necessarily wrongly."

What do you think?