A fragment of a digitized portrait of Swedish model Lena Forsen, featured in a November 1972 Playboy spread, has been widely used in scientific papers to test and illustrate image processing algorithms (compression, noise reduction, blurring, etc.).
Last week, the IEEE Computer Society (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) announced that starting April 1, it will no longer accept documentation that uses images «Lenna».
«In accordance with the IEEE’s diversity statement, and in respect for the wishes of the subject of the image, Lena Forsen, we will no longer accept papers that contain images of Lenna», — wrote Terry Benzel, vice president of technical and conference activities at the IEEE Computer Society.
The uncropped version of the test image originally appeared on the back cover of the December 1972 issue of Playboy magazine, and in June 1973, when researchers at the University of Southern California scanned a fragment of the poster to illustrate an article, it was used as a standard image on which to test and practice all kinds of image correction techniques, hone new processing algorithms, and so on.
Despite the clear copyright infringement, Playboy did not take legal action. In 1997, Forsen was invited to the 50th annual conference of the Society for Imaging Science and Technology, where she signed autographs for fans.
«They must have been so tired of me… Looking at the same picture for years,» Lena joked at the time.
How to note Ars Technica, the photo, which shows Forsen’s face and bare shoulder while wearing a hat with a purple feather, was ideal for testing image processing systems in years past because of its high contrast and variety of details. At the same time, the use of a sexy photo of a woman by men in the computer field has been criticized for decades — female academics believed that the image «objectified women and created an academic climate in which they did not feel fully welcome».
In 2018, the use of Lena’s image for articles banned journal Nature.
The model herself in an interview in 2019 noted, who is proud of her photo but regrets that she did not receive enough money for it. Since then, Lena has changed her mind and in the documentary Losing Lena, she advocated for the photo’s removal.
«I left the modeling business a long time ago. It’s time for me to retire from science as well».