Daughter's Retouched School Picture Upsets Mom, as She Does Not Pressure Her To Look 'Picture-perfect'

A Maryland mom got upset after seeing her daughter's retouched school picture, done by a professional photo studio for school picture day. Jennifer Greene, 42, made her displeasure known on social media and addressed the studio for the shock of seeing her daughter's completely photoshopped picture.

In a post on Twitter, Greene demanded that someone from Lifetouch studio explain why a school picture day retouch is necessary for kids. She and the other parents apparently paid an extra $12 for the retouching, including blemish removal, skin-tone evening, and teeth whitening.

However, when she took the photos out of the envelope, Greene said that she freaked out because she didn't want her 12-year-old daughter, Madeline, to feel any pressure about looking picture-perfect. Speaking with the New York Post, Green said that she disagrees with any retouching of a child's photo because they might feel that their flaws can be easily removed with "the click of a mouse."

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School Picture Day Retouch Horrors

Other moms have also chimed in about their children's school picture day retouch horrors. Whitney Rose, whose child is hearing impaired, recalled that the studio erased her son's hearing aid for school picture day. She presented the "evidence" of the retouched image on her TikTok account.

Rose said that removing the hearing aid sends out the wrong message when the device is part of her son because he suffers from hearing loss. The mom said that wearing a hearing aid is not something that people should be ashamed of.

Kristi Loerns, a mom from Florida, said that her son's school picture day memento showed him with flawless skin that she had to do a double-take. Keiran, 10, has adorable freckles that Loerns felt should not have been removed, especially when she was not asked about it. However, the studio made amends by sending her the unretouched image of her son. Greene, on the other hand, has yet to hear from Lifetouch.

Family Photographers Speak Out

Heidi Green, a mother who works as a professional portrait photographer, said that some parents also want perfection for their children's school pictures, and she feels bad if they ask to edit out these flaws. She recalled one client who wanted her daughter's facial birth defect removed, but the photographer smoothened out the scars so it wouldn't be too obvious. She didn't want the child to look very different in the photos versus in real life.

Christine Han, another professional photographer from New York City, agreed that retouching photos tells kids that they don't look "OK" the way they are.

"Life is not about image, and we have enough of that pressure going around without retouching little kids," Han told Romper.

Washington, D.C. family photographer Jamie Davis Smith said she prefers capturing portraits with imperfections. The most retouch she does is to correct bad lighting or remove shadows on the faces. She also doesn't go for altering images from their natural state. 

The photographers are advising parents not to check the box where they need to pay extra for retouching, so the studio will leave the images as is.

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