Unretouchable

Olive is about to start art school, and her summer is already set: an internship with one of fashion's top digital imaging specialists. Her days place her inside the polished, high-pressure world of professional photography, where the work she has always imagined is only part of the picture.

After a glamorous shoot in New York, Olive learns that capturing an image is just the first step. She picks up the working vocabulary of retouching software, with its sharp-edged commands like cut, crop, slice and lasso, and she uncovers how so-called virtual models are made. As she absorbs these hidden processes, she grows preoccupied with her own appearance and begins to question the ethics of the craft she is learning.

As college draws nearer, Olive tries to quiet her anxious thoughts and steps back from the internet. The story follows her search for a way to make images on her own terms. It offers a close look at a little-known but influential corner of fashion photography and centers on the theme of self-acceptance.