Older Brits the vainest men in Europe?

By Jayne Warren - 05/03/2008

Forget the legendary narcissism of Italian men, proudly showing off their sleek hair-cuts, Georgio Armani clothes and expensive watches. It's the mature British male who has come out top of the list as Europe's "vainest" - regularly digitally enhancing their photos on internet sites.

 

The surprise findings from this European-wide study of photo-trends, which were published in the Kodak-Futures Report, showed that 75% of the 12 million Brits happily sharing their photo experiences online were digitally enhancing them - almost twice as many as their European counterparts and nearly three times as many as our French neighbours (28%).

 

But contrary to expectations, these deft digital enhancers aren't the traditionally self-conscious teenager - but adults over 55. And in a further twist, British men are twice as likely as women to airbrush their shots. And of those whose "morals" prevent them from a full make-over, some 40% use software to retouch their images. 

But the report also reveals a bit of a double standard: it seems that whilst we are happy to fiddle with our appearance to attract potential mates, we feel "cheated" when celebrities and public idols do the same thing.

 

Remember the appearance of an airbrushed and slimline Kate Winslet in GQ magazine in 2003 and the scandal of Culture Secretary James Purnell being added to a publicity shot after the event? 

 

But despite this, just 17% of Brits distrust images in popular magazines compared with twice as many (23%) French consumers claiming a lack of trust in news images and 26% refusing to believe in celebrity magazine images.  

 

Kodak, who commissioned the report, commented: “Over the last two years, we’ve seen a real leap in the number of people digitally enhancing their images - mainly because the technology is easier to use and more affordable than ever before. For those with the means, the only restraints are your own imagination - and scruples.”

It seems that the old adage "the camera never lies" is well and truly gone for ever...