Maxim gets called out for Photoshopping Ashley Graham's curves on its cover
Another day, another Photoshop controversy.
Model and fashion designer Ashley Graham is Maxim's smoldering April cover star. While readers lauded the magazine for finally representing curvy body types, they also quickly called out the magazine for potentially Photoshopping Graham's figure to appear slimmer.
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Commenters began pointing out that Graham's arms and legs looked much slimmer than several of her other recent photoshoots and that her breasts looked plain fake.
Here's a picture Graham posted just a week before from her Addition Elle campaign to compare shots.
Graham has had a knockout year representing curvier girls, covering Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Edition and becoming the face of Forever 21’s first plus-size activewear line. She has also been outspoken about body positivity and embracing different sizes in media, so it would be incredibly off-brand for the magazine to digitally alter any of her images -- especially to make her appear smaller.
Graham released a statement to Mashable denying that any Photoshop was used on her and calling her cover a "major advancement for curvy women."
“I'm beyond proud to be the first curvy woman on the cover of Maxim. I was not slimmed down on the cover, and Gilles Bensimon did an amazing job capturing my true figure in all of the photos. This is another major advancement for curvy women, especially those who work in the fashion industry who are working hard to get the recognition they deserve. I now encourage more publications and designers to put more diversity on their covers and runways. Let's continue to show that beautiful bodies come in different sizes and they should all be celebrated.”
The cover's noted fashion photographer, Gilles Bensimon, also responded -- directly to the commenters in Graham's Instagram -- assuring them nothing was digitally altered.
And when some commenters accused the magazine of how Graham was styled, saying slimmer models typically appear on the cover in barely-there bikinis but Graham was more "covered up," Bensimon fought back.
In Maxim and Bensimon's defense, Graham did share several more images from inside the magazine that featured less clothing.
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Topics Photoshop
Neha Prakash was Mashable's Senior Watercooler Reporter, covering viral content, Internet culture and all things Kardashians.Before being a reporter, Neha was a Mashable intern covering news and politics. Neha previously interned at AOL/Huffington Post managing content and social media for its health and fitness sites.She earned her Masters degree from Columbia Journalism School in May 2012, and graduated with a B.A. from Penn State University in 2010.
