Celebrating a real karate kid...............................8 Langara student kicks butt in the international arena
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PRODUCED BY LANGARA JOURNALISM STUDENTS
FEBRUARY 26, 2015 • VOL. 47 NO. 20 • VANCOUVER, B.C.
Photoshop ethics questioned Retouching software still the standard in spite of growing criticism
New collective agreement between college and faculty being negotiated in March
By BAILEY NICHOLSON Natural beauty is not in the curriculum for Langara College photography students, despite the growing demand for unedited fashion images. The ethics of photo retouching are being questioned through the #LessIsMore petition initiated by Raw, an organization focused on building selfconfidence in women and girls. The petition demands a reduction in Photoshop use on models by major fashion magazines. Eric Stewart has been teaching photography at Langara for six years, including retouching classes. To prepare his class for the fashion industry, he said he asks them to use Photoshop to a degree that can make people uncomfortable. “I basically say in class, I’m going to offend some people with how far I want you to take it,” he said. Stewart said that images produced in his classes aren’t shown to the public due to the negative reaction they would receive. Alterations made can be as minor as erasing blemishes or bags under the eyes, but can also stretch far beyond that. “We do things like elongate the neck, raise the head, add more hair, thin the jowls... we often re-do lips completely,” he said. “Sometimes we replace entire skin… it’s almost like illustraion.” Lanaya Flavelle is a recent graduate of Langara’s Continuing Studies photography program. She said her feelings towards retouching have changed since she finished school and began photographing women of all sizes, ages, and ethnicities. According to Flavelle, it was these images that, as a whole, negatively impacted her views of beauty and her self-esteem growing up. “I don’t want my photos to make people feel like that,” she said. “There’s a lot of new photographers not confident in their skills yet and feel like they need to make up for it in postproduction. I say: refine your skills and be as good as you can be before Photoshop.”
This image of Ruby Roxx was lightened, colour corrected, retouched for hair flyaways and minor blemishes among other things in Photoshop by Lanaya Flavelle.
By OWEN MUNRO
LANAYA FLAVELLE submitted photo
STARS
in the raw
1
LFA strike vote soon
Beyoncé’s unretouched photos caused a stir over her visible pores
2
Cindy Crawford’s leaked photo threw her stretch marks in the spotlight
3
Website Jezebel paid $10,000 for unretouched Vogue photos of actress Lena Dunham
The Langara Faculty Association and Langara College are returning to the bargaining table the week of March 9 to negotiate salaries and working conditions. At a general membership meeting Feb. 25, faculty decided that a strike vote should take place in the near future. Faculty have been without a contract since March 31, 2014. LFA president Lynn Carter said it’s critical to reach a deal as faculty are currently working under the terms and conditions of the old colLYNN CARTER lective agreement. Langara Faculty “Everything is Association expensive here, president housing is expensive, food is expensive,” Carter said. “They [Langara College] like to scream poverty, they can’t afford anything, and we’re used to that every time we go to the table.” Dawn Palmer, associate vice-president of human resources, acknowledged that the College and the LFA have exchanged proposals, but she declined to comment on the specifics of the negotiations. “We look forward to negotiating a new collective agreement that will benefit both LFA members and Langara as a whole,” said Palmer. Members of CUPE Local 15 are also bargaining with Langara College on behalf of the support staff. Carter said with increasingly more international students attending Langara, there needs to be additional support staff to facilitate learning.
Employers say graduates lacking key skills Recent report cites critical thinking and problem solving as weakest areas By JAMES SMITH Many post-secondary graduates lack some of the basic skills employers are seeking, concluded an independent report released Feb. 5. The Conference Board of Canada conducted the survey because skills gaps cost the province’s economy billions of dollars. The report said the majority of the 854 B.C. employers surveyed were hesitant to hire recent graduates because Printed on recycled paper
they often lack “key essential skills” found in more experienced candidates, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, oral communication, and the ability to work with others. Titled, Skills for Success: Developing Skills for a Prosperous B.C., the report was jointly commissioned by BC Colleges and the BC Association of Institutes and Universities to determine the “skills, occupations, and credentials employers require to meet current and future needs.” It identified several shortcomings common to recent postsecondary graduates, regardless of their areas of study. The report recommends governments, educators, and employers work
together to provide individuals with more “experiential learning” opportunities to address these gaps. Lane Trotter, Langara president and CEO, said the college “offers co-operative education, clinical placements, internships, field studies, and other forms of experiential learning that integrate theory with practice to better prepare the learner for employment.” “Langara also offers career programs designed to provide students with the skills necessary to enter the work force,” Trotter said. “These programs have program advisory committees composed of industry representatives who provide feedback to the College on the needs of employers.”
JAMES SMITH photo
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