Cate Blanchett Goes Sans Photoshop For Latest Magazine Cover

by Julia Rubin | 4:07 pm, March 21st, 2012

Intelligent Life — The Economist‘s lifestyle and culture mag — went where few (but increasingly more!) glossies have gone before: the unairbrushed cover.

Cate Blanchett fronts the latest issue of the bi-monthly, a cover choice explained by Intelligent Life editor Tim de Lisle on the magazine’s website:

When other magazines photograph actresses, they routinely end up running heavily Photoshopped images, with every last wrinkle expunged. Their skin is rendered so improbably smooth that, with the biggest stars, you wonder why the photographer didn’t just do a shoot with their waxwork.

Cate Blanchett, by contrast, appears on our cover in her working clothes, with the odd line on her face and faint bags under her eyes. She looks like what she is — a woman of 42, spending her days in an office, her evenings on stage and the rest of her time looking after three young children. We can’t be too self-righteous about it, because, like anyone else who puts her on a cover, we are benefiting from her beauty and distinction. But the shot is at least trying to reflect real life. It’s a curious sign of the times that this has become something to shout about.

But the cover doesn’t just make a statement about Photoshop, it also makes one about the sometimes dicey ethics of magazine photography. de Lisle explained: “Publishers want a recognizable person on the cover, with a real career; but they also want an empty vessel — for clothes and jewelry and makeup, which often seem to be supplied by the advertisers with the most muscle.”

We think Cate looks amazing, fine lines and all. She is, after all, genetically blessed. (She also appears to be wearing a little bit of makeup.) Of course, this isn’t a totally novel concept. Marie Claire featured an unairbrushed (and supposedly makeup-free) Jessica Simpson on its May 2010 cover, Harper’s Bazaar featured a fairly natural-faced Lady Gaga for its May 2011 issue, and Glamour pledged to tone down its use of Photoshop. Make Up Forever even did an entire unretouched ad campaign.

Still, we’re impressed:

[Intelligent Life via Racked]

Cate Blanchett Intelligent Life Photoshop

Kuroigirl68

OMG! This photo looks so beautiful to me. It looks real. When I see the photoshopped images, I wonder who they think they are fooling. It also proves to me that she actually is one lovely woman!
adgirl1

I do not believe this image has not been photoshopped at all. No one has absolutely no veins or redness in their eyes. As my friend said “they used a comb, just not a fine tooth comb”. We work in a word of photoshopping.
Anonymous

I’m with adgir1. The whites of the eyes seem retouched. The forehead is unnaturally smooth, too, though that just may be lighting.

In any case, this is an uncommonly good-looking 42-year-old woman in professional make-up shot by a professional photographer. They may not have photoshopped-out every visible pore or crinkle, but there’s still a pretty high level of unreality here.

-mattmchugh
Bikerk

I disagree with adgirl and matt. I have no visible veins or redness in my eyes. I also have no wrinkles in my forehead and I’m 58.
imi

To add to what Bikerk said, I actually see some very faint red lines in her eyes. Regardless, yes, she above average when it comes to beauty and of course there’s the wonders of make up and lighting. Still, I’d rather see this than super photoshopped images.
http://www.queenbeeofbeverlyhills.com/ Queen Bee of Beverly Hills

I think Cate Blanchett looks stunning. What a real beauty.

Cate Blanchett Goes Sans Photoshop For Latest Magazine Cover

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