Israeli newspaper says it will no longer Photoshop models’ bodies

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth is championing the natural look.

The publication has announced that it’s changing its image and stopping the use of Photoshop on its models’ bodies.

Yedioth Ahronoth will continue to allow digital touchups on a model’s face, but says that banning Photoshop on bodies will promote a healthier, more natural look.

One of the paper’s fashion photographers, Iddo Lavie, welcomes the change.

“The world of fashion is a world of fantasy – of course we know it, but we don’t have to push it too much,” he says.

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“If we look at beauty campaigns from a few years back, you will see that the skin was like crystal or something. It was unreal and now when you are looking at ads of the most biggest campaigns (from) all over the world, you can see all the skin, it looks more natural. So it works, it’s step by step. But what happened in the last few decades? It’s unreal.”

Yedioth Ahronoth is the first newspaper in Israel to put such measures in place.

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The newspaper made its decision following legislative changes in Israel that seek to limit the use of underweight models in fashion shoots and advertisements.

The law, which went into effect in 2013, also requires publications to state when images have been altered digitally.

Yedioth Ahronoth’s fashion editor, Sahar Shalev, hopes his paper’s stance on the issue “is one step into making this world a little bit better.”

The Israeli law, known as the Photoshop law, is the first of its kind.

The US and UK have guidelines, but their fashion industries are self-regulated, while other governments have also shied away from legislation.

“Israel, in a really weird way, is one of the leaders in creating a new era where models are not retouched with their body image and the whole Photoshop issue is more conscious than in other countries,” said Shalev.

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Shelly Gafni, a top Israeli model, whose career has spanned nearly 30 years, admitted seeing untouched photographs of herself feels “weird.”

“When I started when I was 14 and a half, it was in ’86, it was no Photoshop at all. I mean nobody knew what it is and, at the time, I used to do a lot of bathing suit campaigns and we just didn’t eat the day before and what you see is what you got. Now when I’m looking at it it’s weird because the eye is so used to seeing Photoshop, that everything is so perfect, that it’s really really weird to see these kinds of photos today.”

Ray Segev, a model, blogger and public speaker who promotes the acceptance of all body shapes, welcomed the newspaper’s decision, saying it may help convey a more “realistic” body image to readers.