* Psst*!
You know, ‘C’ aka Catherine, Princess of Wales, did something over the weekend that reminded me of my shoddy photo-editing skills. That’s right! The future queen messed up her atti sunder pariwaar photo like any one of us probably could and posted it online.
Oops, the daisy!
On Sunday, 10 March, our social media timeline was flooded with Kate Middleton’s Mother’s Day photo. As per reports, the happy family photo was meant to quash all rumours about her health.
But what it actually managed to quash was her ‘experiment with editing’ photos, which reputed news agencies quickly recognised and issued a "kill notice" to media organisations around the globe. They confirmed that the image had been edited and deleted it from their libraries.
The photo seemed okay to a non-professional photographer like me. But it wasn’t okay with the professionals, who began dissecting it frame by frame after they shared it on their media platforms.
So much focus was given to the edited picture that the Princess had to break her silence on X (formerly Twitter) and posted a note on the official handle of the Prince & Princess of Wales. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C"
Editing your photos and gracefully accepting your sloppiness is all right. Kudos to you, Madam Kate. But, if I have learnt anything from my A-Z guide on the royal family— courtesy the series The Crown—it is that nothing goes out without being consulted by the team.
But I get it. As a royal daughter-in-law, you are maintaining the monarchy motto—‘Never Complain, Never Explain.’
But what I also get is that like any other mum, Kate Middleton wanted to share a photo of her three amazing children and celebrate love and THE DAY while she was recovering from her abdominal surgery! I’m assuming all she did was to assure royal-hungry media that 'All was well'!
Aren’t we all guilty of adding touch-ups before we upload our photos on social media?
I tried my hands on Photoshop, and it’s not easy. You need nerves to crop each hair strand to look natural or to merge one layer with another. It’s more than colour-correction and brushing photos. Trust me, it takes a lot of time to work on an image. I couldn’t even pass the basic level of Photoshop. Thank god for quick editing apps on the phone; they make erasing or adding people in photos easy—or at least that’s what I thought.
The only takeaway from this ‘PhotoKate’ incident is that maybe news agencies need to be more careful about the photos they pick up, despite being shared by official handles.
And let’s cut some slack and appreciate the efforts in the photo. As a mother, I didn’t notice or care about the missing part of Princess Charlotte's sleeve, repeated edges of two tiles, hair ending abruptly on Charlotte’s shoulder, the misalignment of Kate's zip, the missing engagement ring or Kate Middleton's blurred right hand.
Nah, I didn’t care; what got me wondering was how she got three of her kids to sit perfectly still and smile for the family photo. No app or editing skills can make you do that!
Try getting a family photo with kids in it, you’ll know what I am saying…
Each time we try to click a photo, my child turns into Chandler Bing—he fails to muster a smile, sticks his tongue out or starts to test the elasticity of his clothes.
The struggle is real. It’s been over three years since I have been trying to get that ONE decent family photo, and I have failed repeatedly. (But I have not given up!)
All I am saying is that the royal family photo is nice, let’s not be a nazar battu and ruin the moment.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)