Why do I always look so ghastly in photos?

[catdrugs]

Vain I know, it doesn't really depress me or anything, there are more important things. But I'm curious because I never photograph how I think I look.
For example I'm a size 10/12 but always seem to look twice that size. My face isn't fat but a double chin seems to appear in photos.
I'm not a stunner by any means but my face looks so damn pig ugly in photos.
Does the camera tell the truth?!

I used to have photos that made me look much better than I was. But now, I just always look so grumpy, tired and weary.
As for my voice, I hate it and think I sound so odd but I’ve been told a few times that I have a very soothing voice

My late mum was stunningly beautiful. Right into her 80s (I look like Dad ). In her whole life she maybe had about 10 decent photos. I kid you not. She looked ghastly in photos. Always gurning and complaining about how horrible she looked in photos- as they were taken.

i remember reading a study about this topic where in reality you look different than when photographed and it’s because of movement, when you see yourself in a mirror you see yourself as a 3D object, you also are viewing yourself backwards because your reflection is flipped if you see what i mean?
in a photograph you’re a 2D object, and you see yourself the right way round.
also selfies without filters were proven to actually increase the size of your nose by 10% or something, so when you see your reflection your nose looks normal then when you flip the camera your nose looks bigger.
it’s very odd.
I don’t think we can trust anything to give us a true representation of ourselves, only through someone else’s eyes would you know.

I take some shocking photos and it really annoys me that i'm hardly in any with DS. The occasional times that DH does remember to take a pic of me doing something nice with our son, i usually end up looking like the back end of a bus.

OTOH i happen to be quite a good photographer of others; the key being to take a shitload of photos, preferably when people don't realise theyre being photographed. You can usually get one or two that come out well rather than just relying on one awkwardly posed image.

The shock when you use your camera on phone/iPad and accidentally reverse it so that the lens is on you. Usually looking down, instant self esteem dipper!

This 😂

My theory is that when we look in the mirror we adapt a certain angle that flatters. I lift my face up or turn it to a particular side. We don't always do that when having a photo took and it can capture our worst look.

My fairly average sized nose looks huge in photos and one eye looks higher than the other ... like a Picasso🙂. But when I have a bit of a moan about these things, I'm reassured that others don't see what I see (unless of course they are just being polite).

DP's family are really lucky. Perfectly lovely in real life, but remarkably good in photos. Very photogenic. Bastards.

@GreatDuckCookery

Yup, I said something similar above. When looking in the mirror, even without realising it, we adopt a 'mirror face.' That's why it can be so shocking to see your reflection when you're not 'prepared' for it, or to see a photo of yourself.

And don't get me started about turning on your phone's front camera when you're staring downwards and looking all jowly and bleary eyed. Lol at the picture above! Mind you, I reckon even Charlize Theron or Julianne Moore would look like horrors from that angle too!

I look dreadful in photos. The camera puts about 20lbs on me, and always, without fail, manages to catch me at a really unflattering angle.

The thing is, I'm always told I look young for my age, and I always try and dress nicely, stand up straight (that's my mother talking) and smile but I still end up looking like Dumbo's Mum.

I give up......

A friend did a photo shoot of me recently. It confirmed one side of me looks OK, the other not so much.
Face on, it depended on the pose hugely, about 20% of the shots I could pass as a rather rounded model, but half of them I look like Ian Hislop giggling, with the rest in between!