Image Credit: Paul Archuleta / Getty Images
Back in March you may remember seeing a photograph of Cindy Crawford that allegedly offered an “undoctored” look at the model. That image was taken from a leaked Marie Claire photoshoot, though its photographer John Russo insisted that it was doctored in order to make Crawford look worse, even though the image had attracted positive comments from those who said that they were pleased to see a “real” photo of a woman, in particular a model, being shared online, what with it depicting the model having stretchmarks, cellulite and other such imperfections that come with aging.
Now Crawford has spoken out against the photo going viral in an interview with Elle Canada, echoing Russo’s claims that it was a doctored image but also saying that “whether it was real or not isn’t relevant” as people shouldn’t have been sharing it in the first place.
Speaking to the magazine, Crawford said: “Why would seeing a bad picture of me make other people feel good?,” she asked. “I felt blindsided. I was very conflicted, to be honest. The story had run a year and a half before, and the picture of me in that outfit was from the bust up.
“I know my body, and I know it’s not perfect, but maybe I have a false body image; maybe I think I look better than I do. I think that most women are hard on themselves. We think we look worse than we do. So I assumed I fell into that category, even though that picture didn’t reflect what I saw when I looked in the mirror—even in the worst dressing-room lighting.”
Image Credit: Larry Marano / Getty Images
Crawford then said that she had spoken to Russo about the incident, and he had sent her across the original photo of her, but that she no longer felt as though she was able to stand up for herself due to the positive reaction the doctored image had received.
“It was stolen and it was malicious,” she continued, “but there was so much positive reaction [to the image]. Sometimes, the images that women see in magazines make them feel inferior—even though the intention is never to make anyone feel less. So somehow seeing a picture of me was like seeing a chink in the armour.
“Whether it was real or not isn’t relevant, although it’s relevant to me. I don’t try to present myself as perfect. It put me in a tough spot: I couldn’t come out against it because I’m rejecting all these people who felt good about it, but I also didn’t embrace it because it wasn’t real—and even if it were real, I wouldn’t have wanted it out there. I felt really manipulated and conflicted, so I kept my mouth shut.”
When the image initially did the rounds online, Crawford was praised for sharing it by people seemingly unaware that it was actually a leaked photograph. While the reasoning behind it being praised are quite obvious given the amount of airbrushed images we see from the fashion and modeling and industries, and the psychological impact that seeing these images has upon women, Crawford shouldn’t have felt pressured into not commenting upon the circulation of this image, particularly if it didn’t actually depict her body but rather a doctored image intended to make her look worse than she does in reality.
