This photo shoot
🕑 Added 2022-06-15 17:07:34 +0000 UTCWas my first experience being edited in a photo. So I flew to LA for this photo shoot. It was for Tattoo Magazine, they hired an incredible photographer. We had a decent session, I don’t think I was ready for this shoot mentally or emotionally but, physically I was there and the shoot turned out nice. When I saw the photographs afterward I realized that they had edited the fuck out of my image. It was the first time it had ever happened. Which told me a few things. They told me I’m growing older, my looks are no longer acceptable to society as they are, I will be ridiculed for my image in this magazine if it’s not edited. And that my value as-is is nothing without somebody else beautifying it.
I can’t remember what date this photograph is from but my best guess is that it is from right around 2010, maybe 2011? We started filming the show in 2009, it aired in 2010, and I was asked to be in Tattoo Magazine a couple of years later. So I think I have the timeframe right. I was still completely dead set against editing photos of myself for beautification. I had grown up with a photographer as a dad and had worked in his studio through my entire life. I worked with Film however, not digital. I was the one in the family, along with my mother, who taught me, to minimally edit photos by hand. If somebody had a scar on their face, I could get rid of that, not digitally, but with a paintbrush. My mind worked exclusively in one way on this matter. This was mind blowing to me that my image could be so completely altered, to where it almost doesn’t look like me. I really did not know what to do with my feelings on this matter. I raged against it, I remember making a post about it, I remember being very frustrated and offended. At the end of the day none of it matters. I look back on the photo and it’s beautiful. I never did see any of the photos unedited so I’m not sure what they would’ve looked like without edit. It’s just interesting how our minds work and how sometimes they’re afraid of change. It’s interesting that magazines refused to represent people with their flaws, they would rather have a completely airbrushed image. It’s interesting how my perception of myself changed after that moment. I never felt like I had on enough make up, never felt skinny enough, never felt good enough in any photo after that. Now, I edit a lot of my photos, it’s just normal now I guess… but there’s definitely a piece of me that wishes I could take a photograph now and not have the desire to smooth out my wrinkles or cellulite.
In some way, it is sad that we feel we need to edit our natural beauty and highlight some imaginary sense of beauty. I think it speaks a lot to who we are as humans and what our priorities have become. I don’t really know that I have a stand on it, it’s just one of those weird things I wanted to talk about. I love this photo, I think it’s beautiful, I no longer vilify the photographer for editing the shit out of my image but I do wish that I knew what I look like unedited in this photo. As a matter fact, I recall this entire photo session being pretty incredible. I’ll have to go back and look at the pictures. I can’t even remember where I stored them now. But it’s funny how we change our minds and how life changes and we just kind of go with the flow of those changes eventually, but at first those changes can be so difficult. Anyhow, that is my rant for today. Do you ever edit photos of yourself? Add filters to look better? What are your thoughts on the matter? I’m curious to know.
Comments
Lonnie Drake
I love ur body the way it is with no filter and all the right curves
Ross Williams
Sexy
Steven Malc
Danielle, I sympathize with your feelings. When my late wife was in the hospital, she even applied makeup to be wheeled down the hall for surgery! I have been following you for years, on Pickers, here and other venues where you are the content creator, so I assume that editing and filtering are minimal. All I can say is, in your natural state, you are more beautiful every time I see you!
Owen
To start, I personally prefer unedited photos of people, but I can see where they are coming from with the editing. Take internet models as an example. Some of these woman are so altered in the photos they post that you can't even recognize them when they show a "no makeup" shot. They are marketing themselves as a product to gain followers or promote they're modeling etc. Just like any other form of marketing you need to sell whatever it is you're pitching, be it a product or a person. In this case they were marketing Dannie from American Pickers, not Dannie the actual person. But that's just my 2 cents, what the hell do I know?
Sarah Strouse
I, too, am not sure I have strong feelings one way or another on this. I don't use filters, but I use a different -as you call it- imaginary sense of beauty in that I won't share photos of myself - nor will I leave the house - without makeup. I don't like that I feel like I "need" to wear it, but I can't deny that I definitely feel better about myself when I wear it. It's frustrating. I dislike how normalized imaginary beauty has become in our society, but I also am all about doing whatever makes you happy as long as it's not hurting yourself or others. If you look at that edited photo of yourself and think, ok, I am fully aware this is a little edited, but Damn, I look good 😂 who cares? I understand that filters and edited photos and imaginary beauty can cause others to have body image issues though, so I come back to my original "I-don't-know-how-to-feel-about-this" comment... BUT, I'd be willing to bet that if you DID share an unedited photo of yourself with your community of people who see both your outer AND inner beauty, the reactions would be positive and full of love!!
David Johnson
You are part of a very tough business. A business that is related to your physical image. The problem is that other individuals make the decisions of how they think you should appear to the public. We only see you as the image they select. You appear to have a more comfortable self image now than years ago. Everyone is their own worst judge. Stay strong in you natural look. Beauty is only partly physical. Confidence in yourself will always add to your beauty in the eyes of others. Stay human and strong Danielle.
Kathy Randle
Awesome 👍😎
Orpheus
I think your photos are beautiful even unedited. Any chance you can post the whole set if you find them?
Alva Starr
Hey, I don’t really know what to comment except for Thank You. You always post stuff that, to me, feels like a warm, comforting hug. I feel uplifted and validated by you to just look like myself. I think you’re beautiful in your candids as well as pro shots. It’s because you have inner beauty and it can’t NOT shine through.
Kim Rice
I know from first hand experience that you are an absolutely beautiful person body and soul. That latter is what’s really important and it’s not something that can necessarily be captured by a camera. I dislike being photographed, so I often go out of my way to avoid it.
Carlos
Great picture.
David Ratcliffe
Beauty is ageless trust us to see beyond the marks of age.I love to see a beautiful woman of age who needs no vilification for her age. Sophia Loren is an example as was Betty White b e a u tiful
Greg Smith
Oh Dannie!, It's a beautiful picture from a few years ago, but you're every bit as lovely now as you were then. You may not be as thin, and your hair has definitely gotten greyer, and maybe your boobs sag a little bit, but you're as beautiful and sexy as ever. I don't care if the photos are touch up or not. Please keep sending pictures and stories about your life. They are always very informative and interesting to read. Thanks for sharing. ❤😍💗🥰
Sherry
I occasionally crop. I just pick the nicest photo with the best lighting. But then again, no one is paying to look at my photos. Ha.
Rob Smith
Totally with you on this. I understand that beauty is subjective, but I feel that natural is the most beautiful, with all the wrinkles and greys and gravity-related changes that comes to those lucky enough to live for a long time. Thank you for sharing your beauty so freely.
