Spanish artist makes fat

Spanish artist makes profound point by Photoshopping celebrities to look fatcourtesy of David Lopera David Lopera's altered image of Cobie Smulders. Spanish artist David Lopera, 20, has attracted the eyes of the internet with a long-running series of digitally altered celebrity pics.
But instead of slimming women down — as Photoshop is overwhelmingly used for — Lopera uses the software to make them look heavier.

Beyond serving as fodder for tabloids asking "Does Rita Ora look better bigger?" Lopera's images have also sparked a conversation over whether they advance or undermine the body-positivity movement.

Lopera's first "makeover" image manipulated the album cover of Katy Perry's 2008 opus "One of the Boys":
courtesy of David Lopera The New York Daily News reports that the image quickly went viral after Lopera posted it on his deviantart page, where the rest of his art can still be found. Lopera, a computer engineer, has since been flooded with requests to give specific stars the treatment.
"Emma Watson, Jennifer Lawrence, and Kim Kardashian are some of the most popular requests I get," he told the Daily Mail.


In an email to Business Insider, Lopera wrote that about 5% of his work was done on commission.

But outside of Lopera's client base, some have expressed disapproval of his methods, if not of his goal to challenge beauty standards.


Over at the feminist blog Bustle, Marie Southard Ospina opined that Lopera's "chosen mode of delivering this representation is resulting in even more manipulation of women’s bodies."
courtesy of David Lopera Lopera's altered image of Karen Gillan. Ospina added that "with all the plus-size and fat positive bloggers, models, and activists posting real imagery meant to beat stigmatization, it seems unnecessary and almost disrespectful to turn to the altering of female celebrities in order to prove a point about body positivity."
courtesy of David Lopera Lopera's altered image of Michelle Keegan. Should Lopera's intentions be taken into consideration when judging the value of his say in the conversation? The Daily Mail thought it worth mentioning that Lopera was in a relationship with a "plump" woman himself.
Some of his comments reflect a noble goal: He told the Daily News that he hoped to "change people's mind about beauty standards."

Either way, Lopera will most likely continue in his work. He told the Daily News that he hoped to go full time with his use of Photoshop.