Hyperreal Example – Touched Up Model

My example of hyperreal was a touched up photo of a model. Photoshop is often used to blur the line between real and fabricated, and that is done exceptionally well with photos of individuals for magazines and other media sources. Often times, people will see a touched up picture of a model believe it is real, and that it represents what everyone should aspire to look like. The touched up photo can serve as motivation or degradation for different people. In either case, the copy of the photo that has been touched up and the expectations derived from it, become more valuable to individuals looking at it than a the true photo and reality.

Even without Photoshop, pictures can be captured in many ways to improve the appearance of the subject or portray the subject differently than would be observed in reality. This leads me to question if nearly all pictures are hyperreal? They express the reality of the individual that took them, but since everyone is colored with past experiences, biases, memories, and other factors, is anyone’s perception of reality true? And if no one has an accurate perception of true reality, does true reality even exist?

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