A POLITICIAN was expelled from her party after releasing a digitally altered image that looks nothing like her, even as the 59-year-old insists that the photo “really is me”.
Patricia Reichman published the photo in a local newspaper as part of an election campaign to sit on the council of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
The edited image gives the councillor glowing skin, glossy blonde waves and dark brown eyesCredit: rotterdam.nl
But when the Dutch politician was elected last week, constituents quickly realised that the woman before them looked nothing like the photo in her campaign materials.
The released image shows a young blonde woman who looks several decades younger – and several layers more airbrushed – than the real Patricia Reichman.
Reichman claims she edited the photo because it was too low resolution to run in the print.
She said: “I ran it through an online tool to boost the pixel count. It really is my photo; that really is me”.
She added: “I look a bit different at the moment, but that is due to medication I’m taking. That will be ending soon.”
The photo shows airbrushed skin, glossy blonde waves and darkened eyes.
Despite intense skepticism and backlash to the image, the 59-year-old insists that she usually looks very young for her age and is often mistaken as her son’s girlfriend.
She concedes: “I look much younger in that one photo”, referring to the edited image.
“But normally I look very young for my age too. When I’m out with my son, people think I’m his girlfriend. I hear very often that I look very young for my age,” she added.
Unfortunately for Reichman, her political party has not bought the excuse.
“When the information provided during the job interview proves not to correspond with reality, there is no basis of trust to continue working together,” the Leefbaar Rotterdam statement reads.
“The photo has clearly been heavily edited with AI and is not a realistic representation.”
The party initially asked the councilwoman to resign, but Reichman refused.
Leefbaar Rotterdam, which translates to ‘Livable Rotterdam’, then revoked Reichman’s party membership and expelled her.
The outrageous debacle has sparked amusement online.
“Practically twins”, quipped one person on Instagram.
“‘Boosted the pixel count’ to what? Another reality?” joked another.
“There’s always a reasonable explanation for everything, she’s a natural politician,” another quipped.
“That’s not even the same eye colour,” a user pointed out.
“Sure, it’s the ‘medication’ that makes her like 59 in . Not the fact that she is 59,” another added.
Another recent photo editing scandal saw a white influencer of a black model.
The image was clearly completely ripped off the rival influencer and published as if it was a new photo taken at the US Open.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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