Answer for question 4582.

[sabotabby]

[Error: unknown template qotd]I hate having my picture taken, unless it's by me.

[Photography teacher hat] So everyone has a slightly distorted self-image. Among other things, we look at ourselves backwards in the mirror, at eye level, with the visual range of a human eye, and any aberration from this will look weird and ugly. So factor in no mirror, higher or lower angle, and lens distortion, and a photo will from the beginning look quite different than your actual self-image, and also different from photos using a different set-up. I make my students take close-up pictures of each other with three different lenses to demonstrate the differences in forehead, nose, and jawline. [/Photography teacher hat]

If I'm doing a selfie, I usually take a million pictures, from different angles, until I get one that approximates how I see myself. It's pretty awkward to ask someone else to do this.

Add to this that I'm better than average at photography. Not saying I'm *good*, just that I understand exposure and composition and the factors that make photos more or less flattering, and not everyone does.

Comments

[franklanguage.livejournal.com]

Also factor in that people looove taking crappy candids of others, to bolster their own self-image.

[sabotabby]

Maybe that's it. People are determined to take profile and low-angle shots of me because it's hot to have a double-chin, or something.

[princealberic.livejournal.com]

So I actually am ugly? Because I think I look more or less ok in the mirror but extremely ugly in pictures :(

[sabotabby]

The opposite; you're not ugly but you're probably looking at mainly cellphone or compact camera pics, which will distort your facial features.

[pofflewomp.livejournal.com]

Ha. Photos. I start crying when I see photos other people have taken of me, I look so ugly. I look much nicer in the mirror, and my partner helpfully/tactfully pointed out that that is because when one looks in the mirror, one positions oneself, makes the expressions one likes and is self-aware. Plus the mirror image thing. SO, in reality I look UGH.

Hate it.

[sabotabby]

It's the opposite; you look normal in the mirror (except reverse) and distorted in photos. And lovely in both, but photos are always going to be less flattering unless they've been taken by someone who knows what they're doing.

[pofflewomp.livejournal.com]

Because I'm odd and nosy, I also look at people in the street or cafes or whatever and imagine what they look like to themselves in the mirror. Then feel ashamed of myself because I look so much worse in real life too. Though also in a nice way, it is nice to look at someone's best, as it were.

[ltmurnau.livejournal.com]

A good digital photo of me cannot be taken. Some kind of Photoshop macro automatically engages itself, a macro that would have the name "Moronify" or "30% Drunk".