Does a photo tell the whole story?
Ben Carpenter had grown up wanting to be a fitness model. Reading copies of Men’s Health and seeing the toned and muscular figures on the cover, he realised that this level of fitness was something he wanted to reach.
And he did just that, becoming a fitness model and working on bodybuilding photoshoots. But once there, Carpenter realised that this life and career he had dreamed about was not everything he imagined it would be.
He spoke to JOE about the first time he saw the finished photos from a shoot, in which he says the photographer used Photoshop to make him look 30 percent bigger, and why this level of manipulation is damaging to people’s body image.
"I shot with a photographer… I think he made me look 30 per cent bigger. I said, 'What have you done?'"
This man grew up wanting to be a fitness model – but he says there is a lot they don't tell you about bodybuilding photo shoots. @bdccarpenter pic.twitter.com/IPiB5UEpzQ
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) June 27, 2020