Ashley says cover photo was not re-touched/photoshopped:
I don’t know how women “should” look, but I personally am bummed out by the effects of aging on my own looks, and seeing people my own age whom I think look young and fabulous really cheers me up, whether in real life or in the media. It makes me think I probably look better than I think, or that 51 is not so old when it comes to looks. So for me, it is the opposite of what Sax said.
An attempt to recreate how my photo editor brother reacts when model types say that their photos are not retouched: 8-|
I’m sure she is a lovely girl. And I am pretty sure that they didnt have to touch up much. BUT–They are ALL photoshopped. Whether its a regular model or a plus sized model. It’s what magazines do.
Exactly!! I think it is 100% certain that the photo was retouched. How would the model even know how much retouching there was?
Pre-session “retouching” can be done by application of makeup and body bronzer.
Presumably the model would know what he/she looks like. He/she could also see the photos before any retouching/photoshopping was done.
I think the 56-year-old model looks older than she is, especially her skin. I can think of older women whose skin looks much better and have a more youthful look (Susan Sarandon–70, Meryl Streep–66 are two examples). That being said, I think it’s great that SI included her in this issue. She’s got a real body type and she’s attractive. She also has great hair–I don’t mind the gray–it looks fine on her.
" He/she could also see the photos before any retouching/photoshopping was done." After the shoot, after they have sorted through a hundred plus images, the model is not present for the choice nor is she present for the editing. I am sure she does not think that there is any visual editing. But there always is. Especially for a magazine cover. ALWAYS. She, in more ways than one, is clueless.
“I can think of older women whose skin looks much better and have a more youthful look (Susan Sarandon–70, Meryl Streep–66 are two examples).”
Have you seen them in bikinis, though? It’s easier to keep a youthful look to face and neck with surgery, cosmetics, and other treatments. The whole body is more challenging.
I think there are a lot of 56 yo women who look a lot better than her, to be honest. The gray is terribly aging.
Why would a model need to wait until after a shoot and the sorting of hundreds plus images or be present for the editing to know if a photo was retouched/photoshopped? All she would need to do is see a couple of the raw photos from the shoot. From shoots I have seen (and the SI Swimsuit issue has a “Making of” video each year) they have laptops and check photos for lighting, background, etc. during the shoot. No model has ever looked at any of those untouched photos?
Not only that, presumably Ashley has seen thousands of untouched and retouched photos of herself during her career. Not to mention seeing herself in the mirror every day. Seems to me its silly to say that she wouldn’t even know how much retouching there was.
And none of that is to say there wasn’t any retouching or that she is telling the truth when she says there was none. More to the notion she would have no idea that there was. I suspect more so than your typical model, she is defensive because there are a lot of folks out there who think that the only way she could look even close to good in those photos is if there was retouching/photoshopping on plastic surgeon levels.
I was taken aback that the “older” swimsuit model was only 56. Her body tone is fine, but her face looks a lot older, and it’s not the grey hair. It’s the tanning. The deep tan adds many years to her face. It accentuates every shadow/hollow.
I remember a pair of middle aged women who shared our dinner table nightly on a cruise trip. They both had TERRIBLE, damaged, leathery skin-- especially on their upper chest and cleavage. Every time I saw them elsewhere aboard the ship, they were at poolside, further baking & deepening the damage. It made me cringe.
What’s odd, is she doesn’t have a tan in other photos of her. She has beautiful porcelain like skin - possibly photoshopped since she also seemed somewhat freckled in the SI shoot. I liked these photos of her better: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/people/meet-mum-of-two-nicola-griffin-the-oldest-ever-sports-illustrate/
“from the shoots i have seen” Those pieces have nothing to do with how a real magazine is put together. It;s not how it’s done. The raw untouched photo is never used. Ever.
This was going around on the interwebs several years back. Have you seen it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8kty1SEqZQ
^^When they did the neck lift that looked odd.
Barbie doll neck. 
Here is a photo of a 63 year old who apparently was not posing for a swimsuit photo - remember this one when it made the news? 
http://archive.people.com/people/archive/jpgs/20080804/20080804-750-114.jpg
Awesome.
So would the model in the youtube video know how much retouching was done when she looked at the final photo? People here are saying no way. Seems to me silly. And again, that is not saying anything about whether it was retouched.
When they model in fashion shows they can’t photoshop that.