Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com
Misty Copeland has a new photo book out with images shot by New York-based photog Gregg Delman. The book, Misty Copeland, showcases the beautiful ballerina’s strength, through her body, from images taken between 2011 and 2014. The shots are exquisite. Copeland has shared a few of them on social media to help promote the book, which is now available. However, one particular image had people talking, and not necessarily in a positive way. Some of Copeland’s followers noted that her midsection looked much different than usual in the shot, and if the book is meant to spotlight her body, any small change to it is a disappointment.
“love her but the waist looks photo shopped,” one follower said, “please dont mess with her.”
“No need for the photoshopping, but still gorgeous,” another said.
“Ummmm photoshop much?!” one called out.
“This photo does not reflect recent images of Misty,” a woman stated. “Photoshopped too much. Are we still celebrating Misty as a fabulous ballerina or just another celeb on a publicity photo shoot?!”
Seeing the comments under the image, Copeland decided to respond by pointing out that some Photoshopping was done to the picture, but not to her body. To prove that, she put the original image next to it to show that her bodysuit had been smoothed out — but that’s it.
Even after sharing her explanation, some people still took issue with changes in the image. Some even acted as though it was a personal affront.
“Why not take a stand and tell them NO photoshop,” one woman said. “You have tons of kids looking up to you. Sad.”
“Dance is THE MOST wonderful expression of vulnerability, authenticity and honesty. Pure expression of the soul. Photoshop is neither required nor appreciated,” another stated. “Frankly, to alter the image of a dancer, whatever the body type, is an insult to the art. Sorry, Misty, we love you, but I won’t be buying your book. My girls don’t need photoshopped role models.”
Honestly, if alterations are done for simple magazine photo shoots, it should be no surprise that they would be done for a whole book filled with nothing but photographs. I haven’t seen all the images to know if large retouches have been done to the pictures, and according to Copeland, altering hasn’t been done to her body. Therefore, I don’t see the big deal. How about you?
