MySpace, But Not MyFace!

04/03/08

Britain exposed as ‘vain-man’ of Europe

Britain is the European country most likely to be rattled by its own looks, according to a Europe-wide study of photo-trends.

With over 12 million Brits happily sharing their photo experiences online, through photo-sharing and social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, the authors of the Kodak Photo-Futures Report were surprised to learn that 75% of Brits are digitally enhancing their images before posting them online – almost twice as many as their European cousins and nearly three times as many as our French neighbours(28%).

Of those whose morals don’t allow them to fully airbrush images, almost half (40%) admit to using software to ‘retouch’ their images and almost as many (38%) admit to deleting the bad ones.

Country
% digitally enhancing images regularly:
UK:75
Germany:46
Italy:40
Spain:38
France:28

Contrary to expectations, it’s not the self-conscious teenager who is most likely to play with their pictures (38% will admit to doctoring their shots). Indeed, their idols including Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears are apparently relaxed about their public image, as recent photos show. In fact, it is adults aged 55+ who are most likely to doctor their shots (with 49% regularly enhancing their images) - suggesting age and experience don’t necessarily make you more comfortable in your own skin! And in a further twist on common expectations, the report reveals that British men are twice as likely as women to airbrush their shots.

But while it appears the average British ‘happy snapper’ can digitally alter their own image without feeling guilty, as a nation, we feel cheated by ‘digitally enhanced’ photos of our idols and public figures, as seen following the publication of Kate Winslet’s airbrushed frame on the cover of a men’s magazine and the recent scandal of Culture Secretary James Purnell being added to a publicity shot after the event.

However, the public’s reaction to such images apparently doesn’t mean we’re any more sceptical of photographs in the media. Indeed, only one in ten (10%) Brits distrust images they see in the news, with just 17% distrusting images in popular magazines. According to the Kodak Photo Futures Report, it’s our neighbours across the Channel who are most sceptical, with twice as many (23%) of French consumers claiming a lack of trust in news images and 26% refusing to believe in celebrity magazine images.

Kodak, who commissioned the report, explains, “Over the last two years, we’ve seen a real leap in the number of people digitally enhancing their images. Advances in imaging technology have made digital cameras easier to use and more affordable than ever before. Couple this with cheaper and more accessible software or image enhancement plug-ins, and there’s no limit to what you can do, the only restraints are your own imagination - and scruples.”

The nation’s most memorable air-brushed images are:
· James Purnell being added to an NHS publicity shot
· Colleen McLaughlin’s fragrance launch shots
· Keira Knightley’s inflated chest in the King Arthur promotional poster
· Victoria Beckham’s bottom in her fragrance ads
· Tourist on top of World Trade Centre on 9/11