If Beauty Filters Left Scars: The Unseen Imprint of AI on the Human Face

Every time we smooth a wrinkle or brighten a feature, we tell a story — one that says, “I need to be edited to be seen.” But what if those edits were permanent?

Gretchen Andrew’s Facetune Portraits visualizes that haunting possibility. Using AI-driven tools designed to “enhance” beauty, she reimagines portraits of global beauty queens as algorithmically perfected versions of themselves. The results reveal the quiet violence of visual conformity — where individuality is sanded down by software.

What if every filter left a trace? Gretchen Andrew’s Facetune Portraits imagines the invisible impact of digital beauty standards on how we see ourselves.

In these works, the “beauty filter” becomes both tool and weapon. It doesn’t just modify pixels — it shapes our perception of what is normal, desirable, or worthy of attention.

By exposing the invisible hand of algorithmic bias, Gretchen asks us to see these tools not as neutral, but as mirrors of the systems that built them.

Facetune Portraits doesn’t condemn beauty; it calls us to recognize what’s lost when we chase digital perfection.