Some changes are okay when it comes to retouching advertising photos, consumer protection authorities in Norway decided on Friday.
The authority was reacting to photographers’ worries that recent guidelines to preclude body shaming went too far.
“We saw that the guidelines were too detailed,’’ said Bente Øverli of the government body.
It referred to a rule change that went into effect this month that required clear labeling for any image that included photo editing of a human body.
The idea behind the rule was to raise awareness about the fact that many people depicted in advertisements are the products of reworked digital imaging to create people who appeared more appealing.
There were widespread concerns that such editing created unrealistic goals for consumers regarding their own bodies.
But photographers said the rule was too comprehensive.
Thus, from now on, images in which skin tone was altered by lightening or darkening would no longer need to be labelled.
So long as the edit could not t be construed as to create pressure for a more perfect body.
The consumer authority announced the change on its website after a meeting with a photographers’ group, members of which said the rules set up severe limitations on the way they worked.
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