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Beauty magazines frequently contain representations of women with flawless skin and ‘perfect’ bodies. What we see and read in the media is not ‘reality’. These are not ‘real’ women. These are images of real women which have gone through a long process of construction, making them appear particularly beautiful and glamourous.

Browse through the above magazine covers and respond to the following questions:

• Describe each of the cover models, noting their appearance, including skin, eyes, hair and facial expressions.
• What do the cover models have in common?
• Write down fifteen different headings from the various magazine covers.
• As a representation, what does this say about the interests and preoccupations of women?
• Overall, how are women represented on the covers of these magazines?

Before the shoot

The process of constructing these photographs starts long before the photographer picks up the camera. Before the photoshoot, a professional make-up artist is used to make the subject look glamorous. In a fashion shoot for the beauty magazine Allure, for example, Isla Fisher went through an intensive make-up process which involved bronzing cream, bronzing powder, rosy blush, ivory and chocolate eye shadow, eye liner, lipstick and a nude lip pencil. Before she even stepped in front of the camera, she had been bronzed and blushed to perfection! Next, a professional hair stylist went to work on her hair. According to the magazine: “After he cut a half-inch off her hair and added long layers, he spritzed Fisher’s hair with a lightweight leave-in conditioner and volumizing spray, then blew it dry with a paddle brush. Next, he made “lazy, open curls” throughout her hair with a medium-barrel curling iron and brushed through them before misting with hair spray.”

During the shoot

During a fahsion shoot, the photographer can do a number of things to make the model look more beautiful and glamorous. This can include selecting an appropriate lens to make the model look good and carefully setting up lighting including lamps, softboxes, reflector boards and flashes. During a photoshoot, each shot is considered carefully. The photographer will decide on the best lighting, camera angle, shot size, composition, colour and facial expression. The photographer may take hundreds of photographs. Only one of these - known as a ‘hero’ shot - will be selected for the magazine cover. By this stage, even a simple photograph has gone through many stages of selection and construction.

After the shoot

After the shoot has been completed and a photograph is selected for the magazine cover, designers get to work on perfecting. Although magazine publishers have been retouching photographs for decades, the development of tools like Adobe Photoshop means that the process of retouching photographs is more sophisticated than ever.

Dove Evolution

An advertising campaign by Dove titled ‘Evolution’ gives us an insight into the process of constructing that photographs in beauty magazines go through. The campaign was created by advertising agency Ogilvy and Mather. The seventy five second ad is a time lapse sequence which shows an ordinary woman being transformed into a supermodel using the techniques and proceedures often employed by beauty magazines. The advertisement received a great deal of acclaim and won numerous awards, including the Cannes Lion Grand Prix award, making one of the most prestigious advertisements in the world.

Dove Evolution
Dove Onslaught
Slob Evolution
Onslaught Parody