The Evolution of Beauty
Dove’s Evolution of Beauty video was released just over 18 months ago. By my tally of the various posts on YouTube, it has been downloaded by more than 10 million viewers. I’ve watched it at least 30 times. If you’ve not seen it, think of it as an hour-long documentary rolled up into 60 seconds. Click on the screen below to watch it now.
As a digital photographer, I’m captivated by the process that transforms the girl-next-door into a billboard princess. Make-up, hair, lights, camera, Photoshop. The video shows it all.
As a husband, brother of four sisters and father to three sons, I’m haunted by the same process. Does driving pixels in this manner, bring us closer together or dull our perception of what’s really meaningful?
Evolution was produced as part of Dove’s campaign for real beauty – which promotes self-esteem among young girls, older women and people of all ages in between.
The next time around Dove was less subtle with its social commentary (and they left out the Photoshop tutorial). Check out Onslaught.
As a testament to the power of the original Evolution, the piece has been produced in other languages, parodied ala ‘The Man Show’ and roasted ala ‘Saturday Night Live’. Onslaught had been used as canon fodder for environmental commentary and social commentary against Dove/Unilever. Without diminishing the impact of Evolution or Onslaught, I think all of this side-commentary is healthy and useful as well.
As for The Evolution Of Beauty… it all started with the magic of Photoshop and a large team of willing professionals. The photographer in me remains enchanted, the husband/sibling/parent haunted and the intellectual provoked. How about you?
As a father of a beautiful little girl I’ve often worried that she will get caught up in the world of self-destruction in order to meet societies picture of “perfection”. It is amazing how society can get to children at very young ages. There were a few girls in her first grade class that were perfectly normal and yet were already having major self esteem issues over weight and their looks. It really is sad.
From a photographers stand point… the Photoshop work in the first one is amazing. Many people believe that the best work one can do is work that no one else knows you did anything at all… From seeing the billboard I would have guessed maybe some color correction and skin softening. But stretching out the neck, changing the shape of the eyes, and all the other stuff… would have never guessed it.
Kelby Training needs to make a video tutorial on how to do all that!!
Thanks for sharing, hadn’t seen that before! I never really thought about the process in this fashion. I mean, I know that it takes me a few hours in photoshop even starting out shooting a model before they look like they “should” (and even longer for “normal” people).
The photographer in me says “Ha! Cool!”. The cynic in me is incredibly unsurprised. My intellectual reaction is little different, though being a fan of utilitarianism, perhaps that’s not too surprising.
I’m actually going to use this in my lecture on Perception (I teach an intro psychology course). Thanks!
Check out this article on master retoucher Pascal Dangin that appeared in the May 12, 2008 issue of ‘The New Yorker’.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/12/080512fa_fact_collins?currentPage=all
I picked this up on the blog of my friend, Brad Moore – who works as the first assistant to Joe McNally.