The Self Esteem Act: Parents Pushing to Pass Anti-Photoshop Laws in the US

A Lancome advertisement featuring Julia Roberts caused a stir back in July after it was banned by the UK for being too “Photoshopped”. Now a couple in the US are trying to bring stricter regulation to the United States. Seth and Eva Matlins, founders of Off Our Chests, have started the Self Esteem Act:

We’re asking for support to pass federal legislation requiring advertising and editorial that’s meaningfully changed the human form through photoshopping or airbrushing to carry “Truth in Advertising” labels. The labels will simply state that the models shown have been altered. No judgments, no morality, just clarity.
[...] Photoshopping, airbrushing, digital manipulation isn’t the issue. The issue is too many look at these images and theink they should look LIKE these images. And they can’t…because they’re not real.
So let’s call a duck a duck and modified picture a modified picture. All we’re asking is that if you do it – you tell us you did.

They’re currently trying to raise 10,000 signatures for the petition, which can be signed here.

Goksin Sipahioglu, founder of Sipa photo agency, dies

Goksin Sipahioglu, photojournalist and founder of the renowned Paris-based photo agency Sipa, died on Wednesday at the age of 84, the company he helped create and led for three decades announced.

Born on December 28, 1926 in the Turkish city of Izmir, Sipahioglu launched Sipa Press in 1973 with his US journalist wife Phyllis Springer and the agency went on to represent some of the world's best known photographers.

A celebrated photographer in his own right, Sipahioglu covered some of the defining news stories of the 20th Century, from the Cuban missile crisis to the Prague Spring and the attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics.

Sipa was one of three Paris-based agencies, with Gamma and Sygma, that dominated photojournalism in the 1970s, and is still a leading player.

After leading his creation for 30 years, Sipahioglu sold Sipa to Sud Communication -- a media group owned by the French industrialist Pierre Fabre -- in 2001. He stepped down as chairman in 2003.

Johnny Depp Compares Photographing by Paparazzi to Rape in Vanity Fair

Depp's comments got the attention of RAINN....

Johnny Depp graces the cover of the next issue of Vanity Fair, in which he gives an in-depth interview about being a big star. He discussed the paparazzi and the fact that he feels violated when being photographed.

He likened the experience to rape: "You just feel like you're being raped somehow. Raped… it feels like kind of weird .. just weird, man."

RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) issued this statement about Depp's wording recently: "While photos may feel at times intrusive, being photographed in no way compares to rape — a violent crime which affects another American every 2 minutes. RAINN welcomes the opportunity to speak with Mr. Depp and educate him about the real life experiences faced by survivors every day, and ways that he can work with RAINN to help."