Former student told her formal photo had been edited for ‘marketing’ purposes

A Catholic private school is again under fire after a graduate was left “embarrassed” when she discovered a photoshopped version of her formal photo. SEE THE PICTURES

A student who graduated last year from Mary MacKillop College at Brisbane’s Nundah said she was “embarrassed” after her peers discovered a photoshopped version of her formal photo had been released in the school yearbook.

The school in Brisbane’s north came under fire earlier this week for requiring formal dresses to be approved, sending an email to parents requesting photographs of formal dresses so they could be approved before the event.

Olivia Aloisi said when she confronted the school she was told the image had been edited for “marketing” purposes.

“We were looking at the images in class and one of the girls came up to me and said ‘Liv, do you see something different in these two photos?’ – basically they had photoshopped my cleavage so there was a normal photo and then a second photo where my boobs had been pushed together,” she said.

“I went to talk to the vice principal at the time and said ‘that’s just not okay’ and she basically said ‘well you’re standing front row and you’re in a low plunge dress – it’s just not appropriate if we want to use that photo as marketing material for the school’.”

The edited picture of Olivia Aloisi.

The original picture.

Ms Aloisi said she was also told that she should have consulted with the school over the dress ahead of the event because it “wouldn’t have been approved”.

“The principal and vice principal changed in year 11 so by the time formal was only a couple of weeks away we had just been told about the formal booklet – it was very much based on how a girl looked in a dress,” she said.

Ms Aloisi, who also shared her story on B105’s Stav, Abby & Matt, was “embarrassed” because it wasn’t even a close friend who noticed the photoshopped version.

“I felt like someone from the school should have spoken to me before releasing the photoshopped and unedited photo to the entire grade – everyone could tell but at least there would have been some sort of warning,” she said.

“I remember saying to the vice principal ‘you’re lucky I saw that on a good day’ because if I was not doing well or had problems with my body that could have been a full meltdown.”

Mary MacKillop College at Nundah.

“My friend asked the company who took the photos if they could photoshop her bra out but I was the only one who got photoshopped in the group setting and was unaware about it until the pictures came out.”

Brisbane Catholic Education has been reached for comment.