# Why do some people look ugly in photos?



## ChocoSheep

Hey Yall

I have a big issues with cameras. Everytime I take a picture, my eyes look messed, my nose looks bent and so does my face!  But when I look in the mirror I don't look like that. Why is this? And which 'face' to people see when the look at me? The one in photos or the one in the mirror?


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## invisible

It's not the cameras, it's the mirrors.


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## Chiller

Look on the bright side.  At least you show up in your photos.  I dont.


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## Trenton Romulox

ChocoSheep said:


> Hey Yall
> 
> I have a big issues with cameras. Everytime I take a picture, my eyes look messed, my nose looks bent and so does my face!  But when I look in the mirror I don't look like that. Why is this? And which 'face' to people see when the look at me? The one in photos or the one in the mirror?



Maybe you done just is uggry? 

No, but seriously, I know what you're saying, actually. My left ear sticks out more than my right one, but it gets super exaggerated in photos. It doesn't look that weird in the mirror. But, as invisible said...maybe it really is the mirrors. Haha.


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## ChocoSheep

Thanks for da reply guys. I have looked in 100s of different mirrors and look the same. Its only in cameras I look really weird, like Trenton Romulox said, certain features and exaggerated. Its baffalling to say the least.


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## kundalini

Chiller said:


> Look on the bright side. At least you show up in your photos. I dont.


 Is that true for all five of you?  

Every shot I see of myself there is at least an extra five pounds........ just never in the right spots.


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## fabric

a couple of techniques can help. for a few moments before the picture, fill your cheeks full of air - really try to inflate them stretched like a trumpet player, then slowly exhale through your mouth. this relaxes the facial muscles and gets rid of jaw-tension.

another technique is inhale...put your head down onto your chest, closing your eyes and slowly exhale. when you left your head up, it gets rid of 'the stare'.


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## RyanLilly

There have actually been studies where people are choose between two pictures of themselves, one normal, and one a mirror image. The vast majority of participants choose the mirror image, because that's what they are used to seeing.


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## ChocoSheep

Thanks for the replies guys.fabric, I will give those a shot.



RyanLilly said:


> There have actually been studies where people are choose between two pictures of themselves, one normal, and one a mirror image. The vast majority of participants choose the mirror image, because that's what they are used to seeing.


Did they study why people look the way they do on camera and not on mirror? Is it something to do with the lens?


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## Dmitri

ChocoSheep said:


> Thanks for the replies guys.fabric, I will give those a shot.
> 
> Did they study why people look the way they do on camera and not on mirror? Is it something to do with the lens?



I think what people are trying to politely say is that you may look closer to the camera image than the mirror image


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## ChocoSheep

lol - Oh well. I think the reason I find it confusing is because I have been called a stud (good looking) several times throughout the years, but Ive always had extremely terrible pictures. But then again, the lightening is usually very poor too (could that be a factor?) Here is an extract from an article in wikipedia which I find very interesting:



> The term photogenic refers to a subject, generally human, that usually appears physically attractive or striking in photographs, regardless of their physical appearance in real life. Photogenic drawing, coined by William Fox Talbot, also describes the earliest method for recording camera images.
> 
> A person described as being photogenic may not necessarily look so photogenic in real life. Often, a person who appears attractive in real life may look less attractive in photograph. This phenomenon is caused by the three dimensional and two dimensional polarizing effect and could explain why a person looks "better" in two dimensions than in three or vice versa. Therefore, a person described as photogenic means he or she looks better in two dimensions.
> 
> An additional factor is the charisma a person might bear in real life due to the way they move, express, and behave themselves. While this will positively influence the subjective appearance of that person in real life, a still photograph usually fails to reproduce these attributes, possibly rendering a picture of the person less attractive than the real-life perception and contributing to classify that person as less photogenic.


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## ChocoSheep

Here is an updated version of the wiki article:



> A *photogenic* subject (generally a person), is a subject that usually appears physically attractive or striking in photographs, regardless of their physical appearance in real life. Photogenic drawing, coined by William Fox Talbot, also describes the earliest method for recording camera images.
> A person described as being photogenic may not necessarily be particularly attractive in real life.
> There are a few different possible causes for this. First, it's important to understand the difference between looking at someone with two eyes as opposed to through a single camera lens. With two eyes, the human brain is able to see the three dimensional aspects of someone's face, even when viewed directly from the front, and it gives much more information than a camera can. With a camera, the subject is viewed through a single lens, and thus much of the three dimensional qualities of the face are lost, and the face may seem narrower, less full, or with different proportions, especially when viewed at a close proximity. An interesting effect can be seen if one compares a close up picture of someone's face to a picture taken from twenty feet away from the same angle (particularly while directly facing the camera). The face will appear different in each picture, and the farther shot will give a better representation of the person's true three dimensional appearance. A more detailed explanation of this concept can be found in the US patent document for the "imaginograph".[1]
> Another explanation for the fact that attractive people are not always photogenic is that part of their attractiveness may be due to the charisma they bear in real life due to the way they move, express, and behave themselves. While this will positively influence the subjective appearance of that person in real life, a still photograph usually fails to reproduce these attributes, possibly rendering a picture of the person less attractive than the real-life perception and contributing to classify that person as less photogenic.


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## Dmitri

Could be lots of factors, including you being too critical of yourself. Or it could be that your personality (or the way you carry yourself) is such that it overcomes some physical flaws. 

You'd be surprised what people find horrible about themselves that other people like. Look at Will Smiths huge, flappy ears - yet chics love him.


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## JohnMF

Apparently Brad Pitt is physically hideous when you see him off camera...


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## Tiberius47

probably because the camera is closer to you than your reflection is.  The image looks different for the same reason that you look crappy if you put the camera really close and use a wide angle lens.


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## ChocoSheep

> probably because the camera is closer to you than your reflection is. The image looks different for the same reason that you look crappy if you put the camera really close and use a wide angle lens.


Well, my reflections are closeup too. The camera tends to exaggerate certain features. For example, looking in the mirror I notice that one eye is slightly bigger than the other but when I look at it through a camera it looks like the smaller eye is half shut! I also had an accident when I was younger which resulted in a bump on my nose. When I look at my nose in the mirror head on my nose looks straight (only a slight bump is visible) but on camera it looks like a huge bump.. I guess Im not a 2D person?


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## jv17

you must have a good grooming before you take pictures...


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## Hawaii Five-O

Chiller said:


> Look on the bright side.  At least you show up in your photos.  I dont.



You don't?!:shock:


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## Crazydad

I think it all boils down to the fact that the camera never lies, but the mirror always does.


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## lockwood81

Same reason people don't like the way they sound on tape recorders?


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## DeadEye

ChocoSheep said:


> Hey Yall
> 
> I have a big issues with cameras. Everytime I take a picture, my eyes look messed, my nose looks bent and so does my face!  But when I look in the mirror I don't look like that. Why is this? And which 'face' to people see when the look at me? The one in photos or the one in the mirror?





  100 points to who the main log on is.  Funny Thread


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## ChocoSheep

Crazydad said:


> I think it all boils down to the fact that the camera never lies, but the mirror always does.


Having done some research it looks like its the other way round. Since the camera is one lens it will miss some detail which is picked up by a pair of eyes.


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## ChocoSheep

lockwood81 said:


> Same reason people don't like the way they sound on tape recorders?


Eh?



> 100 points to who the main log on is.


 Ehh??


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## Hawaii Five-O

DeadEye said:


> 100 points to who the main log on is.  Funny Thread



hhm I think whoever it is must be Canadian, they said "Eh"


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## janetm1000

also, i found that a lot of it has to do with the way the camera influences your facial expression. that smile for the camera just kills it for some people (incl me!  ) experimenting and learning which poses work better for you helps a lot!
another thing is that you can only get certain angles in you mirror. whereas some pictures might be taken more from the side accentuating certain features... try taking a handheld mirror plus a wall mirror and use it to look at your profile. you'd be surprised to see a different you!


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## ChocoSheep

janetm1000 said:


> also, i found that a lot of it has to do with the way the camera influences your facial expression. that smile for the camera just kills it for some people (incl me!  ) experimenting and learning which poses work better for you helps a lot!
> another thing is that you can only get certain angles in you mirror. whereas some pictures might be taken more from the side accentuating certain features... *try taking a handheld mirror plus a wall mirror and use it to look at your profile. you'd be surprised to see a different you*!


 Can you elaborate on the bold text?


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## janetm1000

well typically you just look into ONE mirror which gives you pretty much just a front view. 
what you could try is, take a handheld mirror and stand with it in front of a wall mounted mirror. then look into the handheld mirror and position yourself so that you see your reflexion in the wall mount mirror through the handheld mirror. it's kind of a side ways thing. once you got that you can move about a bit and see different angles of yourself that you normally dont get to see...
it's kinda like what the hairdressers do to show you your haircut from the back...


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## Hawaii Five-O

Whats really crazy is to have a wall mirror behind you and one in front of you. Its a reflection of a reflection, with that cool curved arc of reflections that go on and on.


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## janetm1000

c677t: when my sister was in kindergarten they had this "mirror triangle" thing. it was 3 huge mirrors mounted into a triangle, mirror side pointing inward. you'd stick your head in it and feel like you're in another dimension!!! it was really neat!


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## Senor Hound

ChocoSheep said:


> Why do some people look ugly in photos?



Cause they're ugly in real life.  I should know, being one of the said uglies.


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## Puscas

I'm baffled by the mirror thing too. I've seen reflections of people where their faces look much more crooked then they do in reality. Somehow when you see facial features 'the wrong way around' (because what's left is actually right and such) it changes your perception. So you should probably look at yourself in the mirror holding a mirror. That's the only way to see how others see you. 





pascal


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## ChocoSheep

Puscas said:


> I'm baffled by the mirror thing too. I've seen reflections of people where their faces look much more crooked then they do in reality. Somehow when you see facial features 'the wrong way around' (because what's left is actually right and such) it changes your perception. So you should probably look at yourself in the mirror holding a mirror. That's the only way to see how others see you.
> 
> 
> pascal


Yep, thats me too. When my sister looks at me in the mirror she cracks a joke about my 'crooked face'. But whats worse is that I don't see any of it when I look into the mirror, yet others can see it? Strange. So my best bet is those crooked faces you saw don't know that your seeing them like that and when they take photos their faces may also look crooked as mine does.


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## Hunterlaar

I noticed this and it's really getting me down, when i look at the mirror i think i look ok but i'm looking at a mirrored image, when i look side on at a mirror with another mirror showing seeing the image of me as others would see? I look really ugly my face isn't symmetrical, my nose isn't straight my teeth look crooked it's really depressing me i don't wan't to see anyone or go out anymore i don't what to do is this how i really look to others and not if i just look straight at a mirror?


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## Lisa B

Simple. When you look into the mirror you see yourself in a reflection. Basically the wrong way around. 

When you take a picture of yourself you are seeing yourself the right way around, as everybody else see's you and how you may never see yourself in a mirror without reflecting the first mirror into a second (thus making the image the correct way around). 

Im extremely photogenic in my pictures simply because I know which angle i look best at - in all pictures taken by everybody else save one or two photos - i look like pants!

I guess this means im only semi ugly.

I HATE being filmed. 

And yes. It is exactly the same reason we dislike our own voices usually - we're just not used to hearing them as other people do and we're not used to seeing ourselves as other people do, either. 

It doesn't make you ugly it just makes you human.


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## asdf85

Look at this link: http://www.hero.ac.uk/uk/research/archives/2002/why_tv_makes_you_fatter1504.cfm

I've have the absolutely the same problem, when I look into the mirror, I look like girl on the photo nr. 2. But on the photos I look like girl on the photo 3. Also when I "flip" the photo to imitate my "mirror look", I still look completely different. It really makes me angry, in mirror I look really really good, but on the photos my face is simple deformed. Especially my face borders are comletely different than in the mirrors, also my face is much much wider, eyes smaller, and in mirror I can see my ears, on the photo almost not... 

There are just few exception, when photo is taken without flash, not in very sharp lights, and plus some unknow constanst, and then sometimes I look normal, like I see myself in the mirror  But it's very rarely, I simple can't understand, why it's so difference between mirror and photo.


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## stfiltersoft

I think that it's like hearing our own voices. Whenever someone hears their voice recorded it's always a much different than what they hear in their head. 

I think our appearance is the same. I usually take photo's as an objective view of myself. 

I may look horrible, but I am sure everyone feels like that about their own photos.


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