Great comment. It's also kind of weird that people get hung up about the photoshopping, when literally nothing about how those photos are taken is "real".
You're taking someone who is already the top 1% of physical beauty (who may have fasted / dehydrated themselves), giving them professionally styled hair and makeup, flattering lighting, making the clothes fit more perfectly than they ever could normally (e.g. pinned at the back out of sight)...
...then having an expert photographer take 1000s of photos and only choosing the top 1% of those photos. Before you even think about post processing!
It's definitely kinda weird but it's bizarre that anyone sees it as an expectation. It's a fantasy.
We are in many ways simple creatures. We see images and respond. And now we throw our greatest minds at work to add machine learning into the mix, to extract that consumer potential from us all to the fullest.
You're taking someone who is already the top 1% of physical beauty (who may have fasted / dehydrated themselves), giving them professionally styled hair and makeup, flattering lighting, making the clothes fit more perfectly than they ever could normally (e.g. pinned at the back out of sight)...
...then having an expert photographer take 1000s of photos and only choosing the top 1% of those photos. Before you even think about post processing!
It's definitely kinda weird but it's bizarre that anyone sees it as an expectation. It's a fantasy.