To think the way you look in photos...

[Fillyfrog]

Is the way you look to everyone in real life?

I recently learnt in therapy that what you see in the mirror isn't what other people see, at all. They see a reverse image, so they see you as what you look like in photographs.

Been reading this article and it seems to confirm it. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.huffpost.com/entry/selfies-vs-the-mirror-face_n_5a4faf77e4b01e1a4b14cdf9/amp

I know it sounds stupid but I can't stop thinking about it. What if you always look awful in photos?! I can't work out if I'm understanding it wrong and could do with some other opinions 🙈

OP it might be you have a 'camera face'. Two in my family so this. Someone points a camera and they contort their face into something slightly unrecognisable and then wonder why their photos come out badly!
If you click using the multi-frame mode so it takes about 20 shots at a time, one or two would be really nice. But it's because it's frozen a shot of you moving in an certain way. A video of you would be a much better representation.

I dont know, I get the concept but even if I've just taken a photo and look at it often friends and family look wildly different to how they look in front of me.

Dh and ds look exactly the same in real life as they do photos so unfortunately that means so do I

I have the Victoria Beckham snarl in photos 😬

I can’t stand my photo being taken. Ds is very photogenic (of course he is gorgeous) and so is his dad (my ex) so much so my friend said oh he isn’t as good looking as I thought he was from the photos 😆

my friend just shines in photos she is pretty but there is something about her in photos it’s like she has a light shinning on her whereas another friend looks quite ordinary but is absolutely beautiful

Some people look better in 2D and some in 3D. So some in photos and some in real life. There are articles about it if you google.

The camera DOES lie. I was modelling in the "twiggy" era. Well known it adds on average of 3kg. I hate being photographed. My wedding photos are awful, yet the ones taken by guests, not posed and I wasn't aware were being taken are lovely. My youngest DD always looks like she has a long wide nose,it's actually tiny.

I’m an other one who quite likes what I look like in a mirror but always look like a troll in photos! I swear I’m the least photogenic woman in the world and hate having my picture taken.

Lighting makes all the difference, stand in unflattering lighting, it casts shadows and make you look far worse.

🤣

I remember reading a very complimentary description of myself in my sons year 9 French book. He described me as pretty with beautiful long, brown straight hair. Also kind and fun and patient. When I read it I said, ‘aw, thanks son, that’s nice’,. Only he said, ‘the teacher took away our vocabulary sheets and those were the only words I could remember’. Cheers son. 😏🤣

Yes.

I don't think I've ever looked at a photo of someone and thought that it doesn't look like them.

Well. Except fancy dress.

Same. And, weirdly, when I was in my teens and early 20s the camera loved me and I looked amazing in every pic. Now I look consistently awful in every single photograph.

a friend of my partner has this too - she is a very ordinary looking woman - lovely person, it unattractive but nothing to write home about, but in photos her face is stunningly beautiful and she looks lit up from the inside. Never a bad angle, lovely in every kind of lighting. It’s like witchcraft.

I feel like it's the worse thing she could have told me 😔 j think she was trying to help. It's playing on my mind a lot.

I vaguely remember this from Physics lessons (over 40 years ago). There was an experiment where people wore glasses with a special lense that flipped the image upside down; so they were seeing everything upside down. After a few days their brain adjusted the image and everything was the correct way up again.

I look absolutely hideous in photos. There has never yet been one of me I can bear to look at.
I look ok in most mirrors (not all).

maybe I am just hideous?!

My friend looks bloody awful in every single photo. Genuinely she looks 3 stone heavier too, but in real life she looks nothing like her photos!

Loads of people look rubbish in ordinary photos but fine in real life, particularly if they aren't posing. Conversely a lot of professional photographers are skilled at making almost anyone look good.

I think that when I look at a photo of me I get an uncanny valley effect. Its really uncomfortable.

Have you never seen a photo of someone you know in real life where they look different? I'm not talking filters or angles.

I probably look better in photos as I'm better looking on one side of my face and that's the side I try and angle to the camera!!! I'm not ridiculously handsome, but have been told in recent times I'm 'quite good looking' .... Is that a compliment?! 🤣 Ermmmm, thanks?

You are correct OP, although I hate to admit it. Apart from the blinking and red-eye the face you see in photos is what other people see. I always find it interesting how many people are genuinely in denial about this.

Hmm I mean when I see photos of my husband/kids/anyone else, they look like they do in real life. So I can only assume I look as horrendous in real life as I do in photos.

Neither a mirror nor photos are what you look like probably video is the closest but when people like or hate you you can look prettier or uglier tainted by their own perception of you and their cultural ideas of beauty which may make you perceived with larger or smaller features. Looking at the same person someone might find them gorgeous or ugly because they see them in a different way. I think the height of the person and the observer also play a role in how they view you because your face shape, nose etc look different from different angles and distances.

That's not my experience with mine. They look like other people in ordinary photos because the lense distorts some features for example making their nose look bigger.

I look nice in the mirror and horrific in photos so I'd rather not dwell on it!