Thelife- Broadway actor and
influencer Andrew Keenan-Bolger recently addressed aphoto editing controversy on bothInstagram and Twitter. - A tweet zooming on in Keenan-Bolger and his husband's feet, which appeared to show that the photo had been edited, went viral.
- In a Twitter thread, Keenan-Bolger explained why he had edited the photo, saying that he "[uses] Photoshop all the time."
A Broadway actor, writer, and director explained on social media why he had manipulated a photo after facing backlash for what appeared to be an obvious photo edit.
Andrew Keenan-Bolger, who goes by the handle @keenanblogger on both Instagram and Twitter, recently posted a Twitter thread about how and why he had edited a photo that was circulating in a viral tweet, demystifying the process and explaining that he edits photos "all the time."
—Andrew Keenan-Bolger (@KeenanBlogger) September 25, 2020
The photo, originally posted on Keenan-Bolger's Instagram account (although it appears to have since been deleted), was reposted to Twitter by user @boy____troy, who tweeted the photo with a simple "??" caption. It zoomed in on the couple's feet and amassed nearly 160,000 likes. In the comments, others scrutinized aspects of the photo that appeared to demonstrate that it had been edited.
—troy (@boy____troy) September 25, 2020
"Welp, I'm getting dragged for photoshopping myself 'onto a beach' in my most recent picture, which is... silly," Keenan-Bolger wrote on Twitter, saying that he had done a "bit of a rush job" editing the photo because he was hosting a phone bank right after doing so.
In the thread, he said that the hadn't photoshopped himself and his husband onto the beach itself, but had rather superimposed a backlit photo over a different test shot that featured a background, something that he said that he does a lot.
"I hate to break it to ya, but I use Photoshop ALL THE TIME," he wrote in the Twitter thread, highlighting other examples of photos he had posted that he had edited to create impossible shots like one in which he is both holding a mirror and reflected within it.
—Andrew Keenan-Bolger (@KeenanBlogger) September 25, 2020
"Photoshop's an awesome tool for digital artists and I'm always impressed by the creative ways people can use it," Keenan-Bolger wrote in the thread. "I've seen some incredible ingenuity with people's photography, particularly when we're all cooped up inside and unable to travel or hang in groups."
Bolger did not address another photo that some users suggested included the photo of an edited chicken.
People online are typically quick to call out what they perceive to be photo editing mishaps, and are particularly unforgiving the bigger the
Keenan-Bolger's thread demystifies some of the reasons why influencers may edit their photos, while also calling his the trolls. His husband, Daily Beast writer Scott Bixby, was doxxed earlier this year after publishing a story regarding a Bernie Sanders' staffer's private Twitter, in which he made derogatory tweets about other candidates. Since then, the couple has faced increased scrutiny online.
"So for all the new followers who are just here to troll me, welcome! I promise to provide you with a steady stream of photos to make fun of," Keenan-Bolger wrote in the thread.
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