Why We Should Change the Portrait Photography Industry

It’s been a rocky couple of weeks for me as a photographer, both personally and with work. I’ve had some people show me that some of my photos were stolen and used without my permission, I found that I had done the same with someone else’s photos (who I asked for permission to use…but discovered he stole them from someone else). On top of that, I received a two separate messages on Instagram asking for me to take portraits of them because of the way their previous photographers had manipulated their photos. I was curious, so I checked out their photographers and some of the images they had posted on Instagram. What I saw honestly shocked me. I guess it has become a common practice now for (some) portrait photographers to heavily edit and Photoshop their pictures, especially those shot in a studio. What is more outrageous is that these are the photos that teenagers and young adults use to display who they are to the world via their Facebook profile picture, Instagram profile picture, LinkedIn, and other…and WE encourage it! We recognize they were shot professionally and praise them saying “you’re beautiful!” or “you look so good in this photo!” 

What I didn’t realize, until it was pointed out to me, is that young folks that are either insecure, have a negative body image, or just don’t like what they see in the mirror, take these comments to heart. After awhile, they start believing that the best "you" is the one that the photographer edited…not the one you see in the mirror. This breaks my heart. I realize that photographers who do this are not malicious or insensitive. I honestly believe they are trying to create something that they deem beautiful for their client, but it has to be done carefully. No one denies that some editing has to occur, it’s part of the process of creating art! However, that doesn’t mean that you must create a “creamy smooth” face completion, or shorten their nose, broaden their shoulders, shrink their stomach, brighten their eyes, or edit out a mole. A good photographer is able to make every aspect of who you are naturally, beautiful. Someone should be able to look at that photo of you and recognize it as you not as “a version” of you, or “what you could be with clearer skin, a facelift, and a boob job.” It’s time to stop calling these photos beautiful. It’s time to call them for what they are: fakes. It’s not the real you. In fact…the real you is far FAR more beautiful than a photoshopped version of you. Why? Here’s what one girl said, “The photoshopped, heavily edited picture of you makes you think that… maybe you aren’t beautiful enough to be photographed. Maybe you need to be edited. Maybe, in order to be called “beautiful” by other people, you need to be photoshopped…maybe I wasn’t beautiful to begin with.” I’ll be honest…I cried reading this message. This is serious stuff. Kids start having these thoughts after going to a photographer. It breaks my heart. So, I’m asking you to help me in saying “no more” to these photos. No longer will we let our kids be photoshopped and edited. No longer will we be OK with calling these photos beautiful. It’s for this reason I created mattvanswol.com/booking. Go see the photos I take and contrast them with the ones I’ve described. I hope the realism is palpable to you. The awe of the moment is stunning to you. The person feels and looks real and happy to you! That’s my goal here, and I hope you can help. 

To photographers, I plead with you with not photoshop your photos of people. I understand the draw…trust me I do, but it does more harm than good. Lighting is your friend, be creative! Let them be comfortable, be themselves, let them make weird poses that aren’t “characterized” in your books. For those being photographed, DON’T settle for less than who you are. You are made in the image of God and are beautiful AS IS, not photo-editing required!!! If you get the photos back and you see a photoshopped version of yourself staring back: return it or demand a reshoot. You are beautiful without Adobe Photoshop.

With love,

Matt Van Swol