I don't play well with others

I enjoy watching photoshop youtube projects. It's interesting for me to see how people can change and manipulate a photo (fat to thin, old to young... that sort of thing) but all of these photo manipulations lose the essence of a person. Lately I've noticed that it's the same thing with acting headshots.

Of the headshots I've seen, the subject is trying so hard to "sell" themselves that they lose the "spark" of what makes them real. I would include the pictures with my thoughts, but I fear that would violate copyright. I'll simply have to articulate here. There are two examples I want to specify.

One is of a young, peppy, highly energetic woman. I love talking to her in real life. She is talented and beautiful, but the headshot I saw of her lacked all of her bubbly, warm personality. It cleared her skin and made her eyes extraordinarily bright, but it made her nose look huge and her eyes were reflective and empty.

The other headshot I am picking on (for this is really picking) was too much personality. The young woman, smart, pretty and talented as well, was also selling herself. The expression was canned and unreal. It felt fake, like she was having fun, but in the back of her mind knew that "I'm going to use this shot to get me character roles in plays and movies." It was odd and surreal.

I find myself a huge fan of natural people. I know that headshots are a fact of acting life, but bumps and rolls are too. As are natural smiles that reach the eyes.

Anyway, this wasn't about headshots so much as how I find myself in the camp of not liking digital manipulation, and yet I cannot agree with so many in that camp who find it "degrading to women," therefore "Women should do whatever they want because they can."

There are rules to everything. There are rules of biology, light and illusion. And there are caveats, one of the biggest being:

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.