Plus-size model Crystal Renn is Photoshopped thinner in her Fashion for Passion T-Shirt shoot

My friend Lauren shared this article and video with me, and I’m glad she did! I had been hearing all sorts of stories about Crystal Renn reportedly losing a ton of weight and it was making me confused and a little upset, since I think she is such a strong, amazing and inspirational woman and an important spokesperson for different varieties of bodies being accepted. This article from The Cut as well as the video interview from MSN set the record straight. *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *

Crystal Renn was very disturbed when her weight yet again became a topic of discussion as online commenters wondered if she was again falling victim to an eating disorder after images of her looking thinner in the Fashion for Passion charity tee surfaced. Renn, who has been anorexic, told Glamour she gasped when she saw the pictures:

“Well, I was shocked. When I saw the pictures, I think I was silent for a good five minutes, staring with my mouth open. I don’t know what was done to those photos or who did it, but they look retouched to me. And listen, everybody retouches, but don’t make me into something I’m not. “ Reached for comment, photographer Nicholas Routzen explained that Crystal looks the way she does because the photos were “…taken from a higher angle with a wider lens.” But he also added, “I shaped her…I did nothing that I wouldn’t do to anyone. I’m paid to make women look beautiful.”

In a video of the shoot sent to Glamour by Renn’s agent (which was used to put together a before and after Photoshop image here), Renn looks more voluptuous than she does in the pictures that ran on Ford’s blog. Renn continues:

“…well, that body doesn’t look like my body. It doesn’t. Having had an eating disorder, I know what that very thin body looks like on me, and it’s not something I find attractive. It’s not something I aspire to. I feel completely confident in my own health because I know I don’t look like that, but even to see it in an image was really disturbing to me.”

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I think the interview is awesome and Crystal Renn is so articulate and inspirational. I think it’s a bit insensitive for the photographer to have made her slimmer, since she has had an eating disorder in the past. He may not have known, but Crystal is pretty public about this (her book, “Hungry,” is based on it). Something else that got me upset was that the photographer justifies his actions by simply, ‘I’m paid to make women look beautiful.” Are plus-size women not beautiful? Because I thought she looked pretty hot originally! She is a plus-size model – why make a plus-size model look like a regular model? It doesn’t makes sense to me why the photos were altered. However, Crystal’s interview is firm enough in her stance against the photo manipulation that I consider the situation somewhat rectified. I just hope that anyone who looks up to Crystal and was confused and angry about her slimmer appearance sees this video.