Iskra Lawrence Makes An Important Point About Retouching With This Photo

We can always count on model Iskra Lawrence to refreshingly tell it like it is when it comes to body positivity, particularly on Instagram. Sometimes, she's used to platform to clap back at fat shamers, like this amazing shot she posted last April, acting out a commenter's criticism that she eats "too many bags of crisps" by lying in a pile of potato chip bags. Earlier this year, she encouraged followers to embrace their "beautiful" fat rolls. Her latest post that will have you double-tapping addresses the absurd disconnect between reality and airbrushed-to-the-hilt fantasy that results from photo retouching.

"You might be wondering who that random blonde girl is. Well, it's me!" Lawrence writes in the caption accompanying a photo of herself from six or seven years ago, and, yes, you'd be hard-pressed to see the resemblance. While the model notes that, sure, her physique may have changed somewhat, a rigorous round of Photoshopping is the real culprit. "I might look different because I was a few dress sizes smaller but the main difference is: I'm HEAVILY retouched." Lawrence notes that looking at aggressively manipulated images of herself has had a detrimental affect on her sense of self, leading to "more insecurities and body image issues," and she acknowledges that, yes, she actually wanted to look like out-of-touch-with-reality version of herself at one point.

Another drawback of heavy-handed retouching, Lawrence explains, is the professional pressures that are spurred by unrealistically tweaked photos: "Yep I thought if I had 'perfected' images (like the ones I saw of other models) that I would book more jobs [and it] would make me happy and successful," Lawrence writes. She then implores us all to have perspective about highly modified imagery: "So please NEVER EVER compare yourself to images you see, many aren't real. Perfect does NOT exist, so trying to achieve that is unrealistic and editing your pictures will not make you happy." Thanks, Iskra, for a reminder that it's okay (and better, really) to cool it on the "perfection"-inducing filters next time we're 'gramming.