In your opinion, when is it beneficial, ethical, or appropriate to digitally alter photographic portraits? When do you think it is inappropriate or ethically wrong?(#6)

Digitally editing photographic portraits is something that's increasingly becoming more and more important to photographers, the art world, and the advertising industry. Have we lowered our standards of capturing  stunning images on our own with out the aid of computers? Or has society raised the bar by demanding remarkable photos, then pushing those photos to become even more perfected with the use of photoshop?

Whether or not it's ethical to digitally enhance photographs in my opinion depends on the situation and the context the final image will be used. For example the fashion industry is constantly ridiculed for creating an impossible standard of beauty. Images in magazines consist of thin girls who have perfect hair, nails, and skin. I am a fashion design major and I will admit that I do believe this is an example in which it's unethical to digitally alter images this drastically. On one hand I do understand these images help sell products, which is important to our economy. The more important argument in this case is I believe it leads people to try to live up to an impossible standard which can cause a lot of insecurities from a young age.

Although in some cases I consider it unnecessary to alter images, there are some situations where I consider it appropriate. For example I enjoy looking at photoshopped images in which an artistic perspective is applied. Here is an example:

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