Only a short while after the death of Jane Seymour, King Henry VIII was brought a breathtaking oil portrait of Anne of Cleves.  His finest court painter, Hans Holbein, had been sent to capture her likeness shortly before they were to marry.  The king was enraptured as he gazed upon her loveliness.  She had royal stature and porcelain skin.

Unfortunately, the king did not know his own artist.  Master Holbein had painted Anne to look much fairer than she really was.  In fact, she was badly pitted from small-pox.  But Hans Holbein never painted pockmarks.  He was a 16th century “photoshopper”.  The king found Anne’s actual appearance offensive on so many points, that he had the marriage annulled just six months later. 

 There’s nothing new under the sun, as Solomon rightly said. After thinking about truthfulness in photography the last few days, it does seem that the intent of the heart is key.

My answer to my own question then, is that a photo becomes a lie when it is deliberately altered to mislead others, as the painting of Anne of Cleves was.   And this happens all the time.  

Whether it’s to improve my physical appearance, or to enhance my art, I need to keep my photoshopping intentions pure.  It’s one thing to give my baby boy rosier cheeks for my album, but quite another to deepen the shading on a piece of art that I list for sale on Etsy. 

I don’t think I’ve come close to pinning down all the issues that photoshopping could bring up, but I am more determined to pursue integrity in this area, just like any other.