26/06/2023
Asymmetry of the human face
In this article, we will try to understand some of the properties of the structure of the human face, and why there are so many people who do not like their own photographs, and what to do about it?
The property of the human face that we are interested in in this article is that in most people, the left and right sides of the face are not exactly the same and are also slightly asymmetrical.
Facial asymmetry of Abraham Lincoln.
The asymmetry of the human face is very clearly visible in the famous photo of Abraham Lincoln (he had a particularly unsymmetrical face). In fact, this photo was taken exactly in front of Lincoln's face, although his torso is slightly rotated. On the first photo we see the original photo, on the second - its mirror reflection, on the third - Lincoln's face, made up of its two left halves, on the fourth - from two right ones. The last two photos especially clearly illustrate the described effect. Below is the result of the same operations with a woman's face. Makeup hides the asymmetry of the face, so this effect is less noticeable, but nevertheless obviously present, because the last two photos are still significantly different.
Asymmetry of a woman's face.
People are so accustomed to this phenomenon that it may even seem slightly unnatural to them to have an absolutely symmetrical face of another person, if they encountered such a thing. In view of our great habit of asymmetry in the faces of all our acquaintances and strangers, we do not even notice this difference between the left and right sides of human faces, or rather do not attach any importance to it.
But this phenomenon still manifests itself in a very interesting way. The fact is that people see themselves most often in a mirror, where their face is reflected from left to right, and get used to their “mirror” appearance. But all other people and cameras see people for real, without mirror reflection.
Due to the asymmetry of the face, the picture that people see in the mirror and what other people and cameras see are different. Thus, in a photograph, a person sees himself as a real person, and in a mirror, reflected from left to right. The appearance of a person in the mirror is more familiar to him, therefore, looking at his photograph, almost all people unconsciously notice “something is not right”, and perceive it as “ugly”.
Therefore, most people do not like their images in the photo. Although in reality this is only a matter of habit, because in reality people in the photo, in reality and in the mirror are equally beautiful. Indeed, there are no objective or even subjective reasons to consider, for example, the image of Lincoln in the first photo, more beautiful than in the second. Mirroring any picture does not change its beauty.
In addition, for other people, the image of a certain person they know in the photo seems familiar, which means that it is as beautiful as the person really is, because other people and cameras see the real person equally correctly.
For strangers, there is no difference at all what they see in the photo of another person, because they are not yet used to his appearance. For example, for us who read these lines, the first and second photos of Lincoln are the same from an aesthetic point of view, although he himself, accustomed to his mirror image (i.e., to the second photo), apparently perceived his true photos (first photo) as very “ugly” images.
But what if you still want to start liking yourself in the photo? There are two recipes here:
Flip your photos from left to right. You will see yourself familiar and you will like your photo. But this method has a very big minus: only you will like this photo, because the rest of your friends will suddenly see you reflected for them, and already they, in turn, will feel “something is not right” and “ugly”, they are used to seeing you in the photo and in reality the same and real. Therefore, it is better to keep these photos for yourself, and post the original versions of the photos on social networks.
Don't look in the mirror, take a selfie instead. In this case, you will constantly see yourself as real and gradually get used to your real image, and you will begin to like your photos in which you are again depicted as real.
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