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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

They've airbrushed her mole away...

84 replies

Carolra · 11/07/2013 07:41

DD is 18mo, her nursery have photo companies come in every 6 months or so and take photos of the kids which the parents can then buy. They're very old school - in the crappy paper frame thing, all in the same traditional pose.

So I picked up DD's yesterday, its actually a nice photo, she's smiling which is practically impossible to catch on camera and her eyes are all twinkly - so yes, we'll buy the photo pack at £35 thank you very much.

Until I took a closer look and realised they've airbrushed out the mole on her forehead. Its not a huge unsightly thing, but its pretty obvious and every picture I have of her picks it up, so this can't have been a camera issue. They have looked at her face and decided to "fix" her and I find that distasteful and a little disturbing that even at 18mo her "flaws" are being wiped out.

I'm tempted to write to them and complain.... but I can't decide if I'm just being totally pfb about it. It's probably not worth my time, but it's bothering me... I intend on keeping the picture anyway, but I'd quite like to see the original pre-airbrushed version.

Thoughts!?

OP posts:

Bluegrass · 11/07/2013 09:48

I swear MN is full of people waiting to explode over things!

I think OP is quite right to give them the benefit of the doubt and see what they say. I would guess someone there is reviewing picture after picture and tring to do quick tidy ups with photoshop, getting rid of crumbs of food, smudges, rogue dribbles of saliva or dirt as well as pick up any specks coming from dust on the camera's sensor. They probably also see the odd little spot that is clearly temporary and have to make a judgment call on whether to leave it in, or whether the parents would be grateful if the temporary blemish was removed.

Amongst all that I'm not surprised that the odd permanent feature like a mole also gets removed as all it takes is a single click of a mouse and its gone (especially if the work is being done quickly). No harm to politely point it out and ask for them to redo it. No one's blood pressure need suffer, life is much easier that way!

Bushbb · 11/07/2013 09:53

coming at this from the other side - I do child photography and have often needed to some airbrushing - BUT - it is only for things like cuts and grazes or an unfortunate spot.

i only remove items that wouldnt normally be there and I always ask the parents if they want this.

it could be that they didnt realise it was a mole and it should be very easy for them to revert to the original and send you new prints

threepiecesuite · 11/07/2013 09:55

In my DDs nursery ones, they made her lips pinker, her eyes bluer, her hair more blondey streaked but worst of all, she had eczema and her skin is quite patchy and scaly...but in the photo, smooth and creamy. I wasn't happy.
Nothing in the letter to suggest they'd do this.

MamaChubbyLegs · 11/07/2013 09:55

Frustrated that is unforgiveable! (Is that a word? I'm tired!)

I'm shocked by all of these experiences, actually. DP wants to get a professional pic of DS for some reason . I don't want a peachyfied, de-gingered version of my child!

RaisingChaotic · 11/07/2013 10:01

DH thinks I am being a bit over the top, but I have told him that mumsnet is on my side, and he knows better than to argue with you all!

Clever man

gleegeek · 11/07/2013 10:01

no I wouldn't be happy about that either. Surely a school photo is supposed to capture our dc as they are on that day, not how somone else may think we want them to look???

Am I the only person who's gone to check whether our most recent school photo has been airbrushed? (it hasn't I'm pleased to say!)

AmandaPandtheTantrumofDoom · 11/07/2013 10:05

I was going to say what Fenton did. Is it possible that the photographer didn't remember it was a mole and/or that someone else did the airbrushing. They airbrush out a lot of snot, red eye, stray hair across the face, etc these days. They didn't necessarily consciously airbrush out the mole, they may have just been merrily airbrushing out dirt, food, etc and not twigged.

I'd agree with your response - see if it was a mistake before you go all Outraged. If it wasn't, unleash full force

jaabaar · 11/07/2013 10:10

Maybe they didn't know it was a mole and thought maybe a bit of food stuck on her face? Photographer does not know your daughter well .

However I would contact them and request in brushed version. I would prefer my true daughter.

rockybalboa · 11/07/2013 10:17

Definitely complain. One would hope that they didn't realise it was a mole and just thought it was a dirty mark. Either way, it was a bit of presumptuous decision and I agree that you should ask for the non-airbrushed version. A friend of a friend got married and her own mother suggested that she talk to the wedding photographer about getting her mole airbrushed out....

Lancelottie · 11/07/2013 10:23

I'm sort of hoping that you'll come back, OP, and report that the originals were so covered in chocolate, finger paint and sand that they'd had to airbrush the entire nursery.

Jengnr · 11/07/2013 10:29

Bushbb why is it 'necessary' to airbrush out cuts, grazes and spots? Surely these things are as much a part of the child growing up as everything else?

Original poster

Carolra · 11/07/2013 10:33

Now now Lancelottie, if she was covered in chocolate then surely I'd need to have words with her nursery as well. clutches at pearls. (as an aside, they made chocolate crispie cakes for Easter, then wouldn't let any of the kids actually eat them in case the parents complained. Worked out well for me, they gave me a couple and we ate them in the park)

I would find it utterly hilarious if they do say that they had to airbrush her entire face... if they did, it will be because of the snot. She has industrial strength snot production going on, someone should patent it as an eco friendly superglue.

OP posts:

RestingUnderTheSun · 11/07/2013 10:35

Rocky I am afraid that a lot of brides actually expect their photos to be airbrushed so that they look their best on their wedding photos.
I also know some brides who are asking the photographer to make them look slimmer than they really are (ie take one or more size off them!), let alone airbrushing a mole.

I think it all comes down to this idea that photos have to be perfect, like they are in magazines. We now have the technology to do so easily.

The other thing is, this seems to be a quite standard thing to do with school/nursery photos. There can't have been so many complaints about it or they would have stopped a long time ago.
Conclusion, despite the outcry on here about it, most people are happy with the idea and it also probably means more people are buying the damm photographs.

Maybe they should have a tick box on the forms now to say whether you want the photo to be airbrushed or not?

Bushbb · 11/07/2013 10:49

to be honest its normally the parents that requests it - mainly because these are images that they want to keep for a long time and they want to see their child as they normally are.

not all parents ask for it - and i never do it be default.

same as i never change childrens colouring etc - a child should look like they normally do

FrustratedSycamoresRocks · 11/07/2013 11:36

mamachubbylegs yes it is a word. They even tried to deny it. But obvious that they did it because they are a bright colour because DC likes them to be seen, and they show in every single photo we have of DC.
Food, or snot, or a big red new cut I can understand. But it was akin to air brushing out glasses.

quoteunquote · 11/07/2013 11:57

Didn't Cindy Crawford once point out, that if she hadn't had her mole she would never of stood out from all the other very beautiful models, she complained when her's got airbrushed, or was told to get it removed.

How very rude of the company to do it, it was a deliberate act, as they are taken on very high resolution, so when they enlarged the area to change it, it would be very obvious what it was, they then take a patch from the area next to it and replace it.

I would write an email of complaint, and suggest to the nursery they fine a better company for parents to fund for next years pictures.

Devora · 11/07/2013 19:43

Decanter, I meant that once a photographer decides subjectively that a mole is a flaw that is reasonably airbrushed without consultation, they are on a very slippery slope. Coughing bean illustrated exactly what I meant.

I was not being anti ginger (being one an all) and last time I checked I was not Katie Hopkins.

OhMerGerd · 11/07/2013 19:56

My dd has several distinctive moles on her face. They're actually rather pretty and as I can't remember her without them, she might have been born with them isn't that awful not to remember ( she is 16) But if they were airbrushed out she'd look like someone else and the signal would be that they're something not nice.
Next theyll be whitening up the black kids and airbrushing out wheelchairs or blonding up the red heads .. What ever next....
Benefit of the doubt mOment ... Unless they though it was a smudge?

zipzap · 11/07/2013 20:39

Do they conveniently charge extra for airbrushing?

DrCoconut · 11/07/2013 20:47

I've heard of children having their glasses removed for photos. I'd be really annoyed if that happened with DS2 as they are part of who he is even if some twats people think they are unattractive.

RoganJosh · 11/07/2013 20:55

I wonder if they've just applied a portrait type programme to it, that automatically smooths skin tone, rather than doing it manually?

spanky2 · 11/07/2013 21:00

My ds1 had a huge graze on his chin airbrushed which I was pleased about . A mole no I wouldn't . Ask to have it put back in.

DeathByTray · 11/07/2013 21:00

I have a mole on my forehead, quite close to the hairline. It's exactly the same colour as the hair dye used at the hairdressers.

Whenever they have a new trainee washing my hair, I have to stop them from rubbing it vigorously thinking it's a spot of dye.

I think it comes down to whether they removed it knowing it was a mole.

If they did - that's outrageous.

LynetteScavo · 11/07/2013 21:01

Do you think they would have air-brushed Cindy Crawford's mole? Would anyone think she#d been eating chocolate cake?

DS used to always have his glasses removed for photos. And his patch. Which they didn't replace. He needed that bloody patch to correct his vision. His teacher was obviously oblivious to the drama we went through each morning to get it on. Shame they could never get him to look happy in school photo's.

StealthPolarBear · 11/07/2013 21:06

Agree with everyone else. However I can imagine they did think it was a blob of something in which case they should be mortified!

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