Craig Golias thinks Iranian Hulk is photoshopped and shares his thoughts on photoshopping in bodybuilding.
Welcome to another episode of Talking Huge – a weekly digital series in which Craig Golias talks in-depth with Vlad Yudin on the latest trending topics in bodybuilding. Raw, honest, and uncut – Craig Golias shares his opinions on all things bodybuilding. In this episode, Craig Golias shares his thoughts on the Iranian Hulk vs Martyn Ford boxing match… and how he believes that the Iranian Hulk is photoshopping his waist. He also shares his opinions on photo editing physiques in bodybuilding as a whole.
Craig Golias is a man who is extremely large – being HUGE is part of his entire persona. It’s very obvious to anyone who met him that he’s truly large in real life. But there are many people who think that Golias’ photos are edited or photoshopped to look more impressive. Craig claims that he never photoshops his images – but admits to using extreme angling to create the illusion that he’s bigger than he really is. In either case, there’s no denying that Craig is an extremely massive person physically.
But photoshopping in bodybuilding is a very real thing. In fact, it’s very real beyond bodybuilding as well. Whether it’s filters on Instagram or airbrushing models in magazines and commercials – the human body is constantly being altered to look “perfect.” For the bodybuilding industry, this is almost always seen by fans as a betrayal. Bodybuilding is about perfecting the body into something larger than life. To fake that is essentially a cheat.
That’s why in this week’s episode of Talking Huge we discuss about a variety of different topics that all tie into one theme – photoshopping. The discussion springboards first from a discussion about the Martyn Ford vs Iranian Hulk boxing match and snowballs into various stories involving photoshop scandals and the very concept behind photoshopping in bodybuilding. Let’s jump into it.
Is The Iranian Hulk Photoshopped?
The Martyn Ford vs Iranian Hulk boxing match was a sudden an unexpectedly popular announcement. Set to take place in April 2022, seeing one of the tallest bodybuilders face off against one of the largest bodybuilders is a sort of freak show fans are excited to see. But Craig Golias thinks that Iranian Hulk uses photoshop to appear more shocking than he actually is. Specifically, Craig believes that the Iranian Hulk’s waist is being tapered in with photo editing.
There’s of course no proof – but Craig Golias being a 300+ pound man himself finds it unlikely that the Iranian Hulk could have such a tight waist. He also points out that beyond certain photos – he’s often seen with a baggy hoodie on.
Can Photoshopping Be Acceptable In Bodybuilding?
This leads into the bigger conversation about photoshopping. Vlad Yudin and Craig Golias debate about whether or not photoshopping can be acceptable in certain situations for bodybuilders. Craig admits that angling in photos is basically a form of photoshop. It’s using illusion to look more impressive. Photo editing is just the next step of that.
That being said – Craig Golias thinks that to photoshop heavily is misleading and goes against the very goal of bodybuilding. A bodybuilder wants to look larger than life and make people see the impossible. To use photo editing to fake that is to defeat the goal of bodybuilding in and of itself.
But Craig Golias also looks back at the Devin Physique Shredz scandal and wonders of the photoshopping criticism was over-exaggerated. Craig points out that Devin is clearly shredded and muscular in real life. But he used photoshop to alter the smaller details to look more perfect. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an impressive physique. It just means that he tightened up the small lagging details – like many people do outside of the industry these days with filters.
That being said – it should be noted that Devin Physique was using his photos to sell training programs. So altering his image in an effort to promise those kinds of results are certainly misleading. Which was a part of the scandal at the time.
Wrap Up
You can check out the full conversation in the latest episode of Talking Huge above. There were far more topics than could be covered in this article – including Craig deciding his favorite physique between Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler. Make sure to check out Talking Huge every week on Friday – only on the Generation Iron Fitness Network!
