Cornerstone Magazine Fall 2015 | Page 13

Unedited ISABELLA MARTINEZ So much of what we see today is edited. Tumblr, Instagram, and even Snapchat contain photos that have been tweaked and manipulated until they look “just so.” Editing tools erase our blemishes on senior portraits, make a sunset just a bit brighter, our smiles whiter, and the shadows that define a building darker. But then we aren’t seeing anything real. Although I enjoyed that touch-up on my senior portrait, editing a sunset or the ocean waves takes away the breathtaking beauty that made it awe-inspiring in the first place. When we employ a filter or a photo-editing app, we take it upon ourselves to change something that God made “good” the moment He created it. Every freckle on our faces or that tree with the weird bend that seemingly ruins an entire photo is part of God’s marvelous creation. And when we take photos in order to preserve the memory for ourselves, w [