Parents outraged over school picture day ‘retouch’ trend

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Several parents have taken issue with the ongoing trend to “retouch” school pictures.

When Maryland mom Jennifer Greene opened up her 12-year-old daughter’s school picture package from photography company Lifetouch, she found that the company was asking parents to pay for an additional $12 for portrait “retouching” services after going ahead and “retouching” their photos without their permission.

The “retouching” – which includes teeth whitening, skin-tone evening, and blemish removal – goes against what Greene was trying to instill in her daughter, that she doesn’t feel the pressure to look perfect.

“I completely disagree with [retouching a child’s school picture], because it’s teaching kids that they need to look perfect all the time and that they can change [a perceived flaw] with the click of a mouse,” she told the New York Post.

Outraged on the behalf of her daughter, Greene took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to put the company on blast.

“I’m going to need someone to explain to me why @Lifetouch offers PHOTO RETOUCH for KIDS school pics?!” she posted last month. “What the hell?!”

When asked about Greene’s post, Lifetouch said in a statement to The Post: “Our goal is always to authentically capture each child we photograph. Photo retouch is an entirely opt-in service that customers choose to add on to photo packages. Most, if not all, school photography companies offer this service and it’s an expectation as an available option for schools.”

But it isn’t just Greene who has taken an issue with “retouching” practices. Florida-based blogger and mother Kristin Loerns had requested “basic retouching” of her son’s photos, but when she received them in the mail, she was shocked to find that the company had removed his freckles rather than just blemishes.

“I gave permission for ‘basic retouching,’ which would be removing blemishes, and they removed all of his freckles instead,” the 36-year-old told The Post. After Loerns issued a complaint to Lifetouch concerning the issue, the company promptly remedied the issue by sending her re-edited pictures that included her son's freckles.

The Lifetouch “retouching” process extends beyond blemishes, with one mother taking to TikTok to claim that the company went on to erase her three-year-old son’s hearing aids from his school picture without her consent. The video has since garnered 2.2mil views on the platform.

“These are my son’s hearing aids. They help him hear, they’re a part of who he is and he likes them,” Rose said on her TikTok account, @TheseDeafKidsRock. “It’s sending a message to him that part of who he is, his hearing loss, is something he should be ashamed of.”

With “retouching” photos being popularised by social media, concerns with filters and unblemishing options aren’t just shared by parents, but also by researchers. Data suggests that enhanced photos and filters are more harmful than helpful to young, impressionable minds - especially those of young girls like Greene’s daughter. By 13-years-old, 80 per cent of girls have either downloaded a filter or used an app to alter their appearance in photos, according to data from the Dove Self-Esteem Project.

The Independent has contacted Lifetouch for comment.