A new face for senior photos

For camera-shy souls, few words evoke more fear than "cheese." Leery Yalies, however, are in luck. For the first time, graduating students have the option to edit their senior photos. Goodbye crooked smiles and bad hair. Now, lackluster proofs are merely a jumping-off point.

COURTESY T.D. BROWN STUDIO An instant digital makeover ensures that even the most unkempt Yalie won't have to get a haircut to impress Grandma.

Lifetouch, the company handling this year's senior photos, offers a digital retouching service to its customers. According to their brochure, Lifetouch's "Upper Class" software has "The Power to Do Worlds With Your Image." Indeed, the options here are not like choosing between a matte or glossy finish—one can opt for hair or a buzzcut, for arms crossed or relaxed.

Lifetouch fixes aesthetic problems quickly and without the physical presence of the customer. Quite convincingly, the company gives t-shirt wearers suits and ties, blue eyes to brown-eyed girls.

What's more, Upper Class allows clients to access their photos over the Internet. Students are encouraged to download their proofs and "experiment with them in creative ways." Anyone who desires can make a Mr. Potato Head of his own face.

These services could prove invaluable to seniors poring over their photos. Inevitably, some students see their proofs and wish they did not have to go down in the annals as someone who shaved his head for the rugby team or wore a ring from that now despicable ex-boyfriend.

Yet, while the Upper Class system would seem to make ideal memoirs a reality, few Yale seniors are seriously considering retouching (or rearranging) their photos.

"Most of us are weirded out by all the possibilities—more than we are by our [unaltered] pictures," Abha Khanna, BK '01, said. Like many of her classmates, Khanna thinks the brochure detailing Upper Class's capabilities is good for a laugh, but not for much serious consideration.

Several observant students have looked at the Lifetouch pamphlets and noticed that the same pair of hands appear under the faces of two different models. The notion that one's head could be paired with generic arms has made these Yalies all the more reluctant to edit their own proofs.

In all likelihood, the majority of seniors will opt for basic retouching when ordering their photo packages from Lifetouch. Mom and Dad will not see any blemishes—nor will they see a limb that does not belong to their child.

But even those who dare to use the Upper Class technology are probably safe. Fifty years from now, Yale seniors may very well look back at their yearbook pictures and fail to recall that Joe had not a tie to his name.

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