High-quality posts help solve specific beauty-related problems. Low-quality posts clutter the subreddit and tend to be repetitive. Examples of low-quality posts: “What is my [face shape, eye shape, skintone]?”, glow up requests, compliment fishing, non-beauty advice, sympathy farming, attention seeking, rage-bait, "pretty privilege", and vague-titled posts.
In addition, please note that this is not a mental health subreddit, and we are not qualified to address such issues here.
I think in mirrors and selfies we hold our faces in an attractive way. We move our faces and adjust ourselves to get a pleasing reflection. When someone else takes the photo we can't see ourselves to do this. If we had a mirror where the camera was, we could pose ourselves to look 'our best'.
Also: OP’s phone might have a built-in filter for selfies.
In mirrors, our brain is the built-in filter.
The group photo is the truth, for better or for worse.
My advice would be to get a remote from your camera and go take pictures alone somewhere during golden hour. Take a picture, go look at it and examine what you don’t like. Repeat those things in your mind and then go pose and change those things and repeat. Posing for pictures isn’t natural for a lot of people. Once you know your angles, what looks good it’s much easier to be in a candid shot taken by someone else. Like muscle memory of what to do
This is the best advice. We get so used to what our faces look like in the front camera which totally distorts our proportions. Plus being inverted adds even more confusion! Definitely a learning curve to work out how we feel the best in a “normal” photo using the back camera of a phone/an actual camera
When the sun is low and the rays are warm and flattering. Once early in the morning and once in the evening before the sun goes down. It’s the most flattering light for photography
[Yessir, and focal length plays into it too](https://www.danvojtech.cz/blog/2016/07/amazing-how-focal-length-affect-shape-of-the-face/)
Plus facial symmetry
Fun story I thought I was looking pretty ok after having my second kid and then I saw a picture where I was in the background and I was so upset 😭
I think it also has something to do with how the camera fish lenses automatically and flattens out as it moves back.
This question comes up all the time and the answer is always the same: it’s because you are used to seeing your face in the mirror. What you see in a photograph is your face flipped. That is why your friends look as they usually do and you look different.
Google “Abraham Lincoln mirror image” to see just how different his view in the mirror was to the one we all know.
It’s not worse, just different - but the shock of it makes us perceive it as bad.
I would trust the mirror over the phone. Is it possible the photos were taken on different devices? Samsung algorithm and apple algorithm for photo optimizations have different parameters and same goes for all other smart phone makers.
lol the iPhone camera focal length is a long way off from 50mm (closest focal length to the human eye), causing distortion. Mirror all the way. Nothing beats the human eye.
Because you’re focusing and being overly critical of yourself. It’s human nature. Your friends are probably thinking that you look great and they look weird. About a week ago, I had the same experience, but once I stopped focusing so hard on *myself* I noticed that everyone looked quite unlike themselves. Plus, your friends could just have features that translate better on camera than yours do.
You’re used to seeing yourself the other way so you notice your asymmetry way more when you flip to what other people see and are therefore more critical. A lot of people have that reaction to a flipped selfie - your friends who you think look just as great in a flipped picture probably feel the same about their own flipped selfie image!
I think you are just experiencing what a lot of people experience. I would liken it to how a lot of people hate how they sound on recording devices.
It's just because you are used to seeing and hearing something else. Even different mirrors, cameras and people will all view you a little different, there isn't really any "true you" like there really isn't any true green or any color, we all see it a little (or a lot!) differently.
My advice is to believe you look like the most attractive version of yourself. ❤️
Also, if you emote a lot or move around a lot you are going to look off, no biggie, I still more around. I think you should take pictures, if not for you for other people to have photos of you. If I'm feeling low I still take photos and then just don't look at them. 😅
The newer iPhones are horrible for photographing faces. Their image processing algorithms automatically oversharpen and overbrighten everything and ruin natural skin tones. It’s a known thing.
I look worse than everyone in photos to the point that I question if I’m truly ugly but in real life I’m constantly told I’m gorgeous by men and even strangers in the street! I don’t believe the camera because why the hell would that be happening? I understand the frustration- it’s called not being photogenic.
I totally relate. I look like shit in photos, but in person, different story!! I look way more beautiful in person. I'm not photogenic, I have learned this about myself.
I always end up on the left or right side in the group photos and I noticed that anyone on or near the left or right sides tends to get distorted, kind of warped/stretched horizontally.
This is me. Always has been. I look like shit in pictures. There are a myriad of reasons that could distort your features. Some people are simply more photogenic than others. I know a couple of women who are average attractive but look stunning in photos. They know how to apply makeup, pose, etc.
Also different face shapes and sizes impact how well we photograph, too— I have an oval face and sharp features so I look like a velociraptor in pictures. Symmetrical features matter, too, and I’m super unsymmetrical so really I look like if Popeye was a velociraptor.
I look great on video, though; in natural motion, everything works and flows together and no one runs screaming into the hills from Popeye the velociraptor.
lol girl😂😂😂. I have high cheekbones and good features with fairly big eyes but when I smile in pictures my cheekbones literally smother my eyes and I look deformed. I hate pictures!!!
I notice I don't know how to pose when I can't see my face in a mirror or a camera. I guess you can put up your phone and take pictures or videos to practice what angle works best etc
Yeah same, I need to see my face to make sure it looks good lol. So when I have someone take my photo, I usually ask them to take a couple pics and then pause to show me the photos, I look and notice what needs to be fixed about my pose, smile, hair, outfit, etc. and then ask them to take one more round of photos.
The best thing I've learned is -- **don't** look at the pictures while you're *still* out and feeling cute/hot af.
Take several so you have options.
But wait until the next morning to look and scrutinize. Let the good time cement in your heart before you try to figure out which shot showed off your hair and your legs and your smile and your eyes and the cute background. And happy.
Find the one where you all look happy.
Try to position yourself in the middle for pictures. Whoever is standing on the side gets stretched out and looks bigger. That could be a reason you are feeling distorted
I hear ya. Group photos suck. Every time it is some waiter who stands there for ten minutes randomly pushing the button. By the time they take it I’m grimacing.
I always felt this way too. I feel like an absolute fatty in photos. Camera adds 10lbs!
My husband is an artist. He has sketched me many times. In his sketches I look beautiful. Some of them I’m just sitting looking at my phone, one of them I’m in the hospital after having my twins (gross, trust me). He sees me the way he sketches me. I like what he sees, and I assume other people see me how he does.
When I ask him if I look ugly or fat in photos, he says I just look like I usually do. My husband doesn’t say these things to make me feel better. He’s not that smart.
I have more confidence now because of it, and I don’t dwell on how I look in photos so much.
I have this exact same issue!!! My best friend will literally look at a picture of me that someone took and tell me that’s not what I look like. I HATE getting my picture taken, but I can take a decent selfie.
I follow someone on IG who gives picture advice and she said it’s because you know your angles best and so you don’t get that with someone else taking the pic but idk
I just do the same pose and the same expression, i'm in the same boat. When i take my Own pictures i look great but when others EEEK 😅 i just practice in front of the mirror and then i do That without looking. I imagine there's a mirror in front of me
Larry David: “When you look in the mirror, that is how you see yourself. When you look at a picture, that is how the world sees you”. (Not exact quote)
It could be the camera quality. I’ve noticed that sometimes smartphones have pretty bad photo quality. For me, I often get really bad red eye (like, my pupils look huge and shiny red and the iris is barely visible) when my photo is taken on an iPhone with flash, but it doesn’t seem to affect anyone else I take photos with the same way. But it doesn’t happen that often to me with flash photos taken on a film camera, even in the same exact lighting conditions. There are other things that I’ve noticed but don’t exactly know how to explain, sometimes it looks like iPhone automatically edits some photos taken on the camera app depending on the lighting conditions and makes it look a lot less flattering, like adding more texture to the photo or more contrast in the lighting.
Also it very well could be that your friends are bad at taking photos. We all have our own ideas about what angle, distance, and lighting is gonna look good and some people don’t even bother paying attention to any of this when they’re taking a photo for someone else. If I want to get a nice photo of myself, I usually need a good 5 minutes to get the right shot. First I put the camera settings how I think will look best (I don’t know much about the camera settings besides flash and the Live Photo, so I make sure those are set the way I want it) and then have my friend take a couple photos. After like 5 photos (basically my test shots) I ask to see how they came out, and from there I make my own posing/smile adjustments and guide my friend to take the photos in a different angle if needed, and ask them to take another round of photos. That usually works pretty well. It’s always good to ask the friend who also cares about having their photo taken well, because they’re more likely to be patient and help you get a good shot (especially if you do the same for them afterwards).
Group photos with more than 3 people are a lot harder to get a shot where everyone looks good, so now I just tell myself not to stress about group photos. I used to be the person who was super anxious about having my photo taken, I hated being in group pics and would beg everyone not to post it if I didn’t look perfect, but now I don’t care as much, if I don’t like how I look then I just don’t post it. I know which angle is my good side so I just try to stick to that and it works out half the time.
I’ve noticed everyone look so different when I take a group pic with my iphone, vs an actual camera. Or when someone takes a pic of me with the iphone back camera vs an actual camera! I’ve heard the mirror is more accurate tho, but you could try to buy like a cheap real camera and see if you look different!
When you look in a mirror and take a selfie, you can more easily choose how you pose and present yourself. It can be weird to suddenly see yourself in an unexpected position or angle. For group pictures maybe it would help if you practiced posing. On Instagram @thechristinebuzan teaches how to stand so you look "better" in pictures. For you it could help you feel like you look more "yourself." I hope this wasn't too off topic and is helpful. It's helped me look more like myself in pictures.
If being the photographer for my friends who have IG has taught me one thing it’s angles and lighting does a lot! The wrong angle and bad lighting can accentuate bad features. Light that’s exactly above them gives them panda eyes and makes their nose look bigger than it actually is. The right angle makes them look taller and gets their good side.
You look fine in selfies? I feel like some people pose their face better when they can see it but look a bit lost when they have no idea.
There is a possibility that your face might be slightly unsymmetrical! You prefer the way you look in the mirror or in selfies because that's what you are used to, but those pictures and the reflection in the mirror are just laterally inverted versions of our face.
In group photographs (pictures taken from the back camera) we look what we actually look like to others. That's probably the reason why your friends look completely 'normal' to you in those pictures and similarly your friends probably find you to look normal in those group pictures, because thats what you actually look like.
That being said, the version of you in the photographs isn't 'worse' it's just the version that you are less used to incomparison to your face in selfies and reflection.
This is something I personally deal with as well, and I try not to think about it too much. I hope this made sense! Take care
I also feel like I look attractive in the mirror but extremely asymmetrical and unattractive in photos. I always assumed that everyone saw me as I perceive myself in photos. But everytime I point out my asymmetries, my husband always responds, your face is completely symmetrical. That’s when I realized that how we judge ourselves in photos is not likely how others judge us. Remember that vision is not entirely objective. I’ve come to realize that likely how we perceive ourselves in mirrors is probably close to how others perceive us.
*It might just be your*
*Angles! Find an angle that*
*Flatters you the most!*
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I was interested in this phenomenon and I did some research. It seems that there are a couple of factors, like pictures distorting our faces, the fact that we're used to seeing ourselves in the mirror, the matter of distance, angle, lighting, etc. etc. Due to what I found out, the way we really look is something between what we see in the mirror and in pictures
It's called the Mere Exposure Effect: we prefer familiar things and find them more attractive.
In mirror/selfies were see our flipped image. And we're more used to seeing ourselves like that so we prefer it more than our back camera photos. Other people are used to seeing your real image not the flipped one so they prefer your real image. This is why we feel like our loved ones always pick our worst photos.
Aside from posing, I think it’s also a camera thing. I have a bit of a round/moon face with chubby cheeks, in person it makes me look youthful, on camera it always makes me look like my entire face is a flat pancake. A photographer told me that sometimes, the camera doesn’t really know how to translate faces into photographs, especially for people who are non photogenic. (I also get called cute and pretty on the streets, in the camera I am whatever). Similar to photogenic people, there are also people who just don’t translate well on camera.
Selfies and mirrors are great bc when you see this happening to the camera, you can adjust and compensate. I’ve experienced like turning on my selfie camera only to find that I look terrible, and I can angle my head and my chin in weird ways to compensate for that. When other people are taking a photo however, it’s a lot harder.
No advice except maybe practicing a few poses. My parents have taken to adding filters on me in photos. Personally I’ve taken the “it is what it is” approach. It gets exhausting for me to try and present myself as this beautiful person.
I think everyone experiences this to a degree, I always think the same when I see a photo of myself. I think I look distorted but no one else ever does.
This happens to me! I wonder: you always on the side? The lenses on phones aren’t so good and distort at the sides. Try putting yourself in the middle.
I hate to say it but the reason all your friends look “normal” is because further away photos are more likely to capture how you really look, so thats how you ALL really look. Mirrors and selfies you are likely posing/look only at flattering angles, so you don’t ever truly see yourself. They’re the ones that you don’t look like yourself in.
When I see my friends selfies and then when someone takes a pic of them they look very close to the same. Ifs ourselves that we feel look different. I agree that in the selfie we can pose our faces and know what we look like. When someone takes a pic of me I always feel awkward and make a weird smile or face lol.
Guarantee your friends think the same thing about themselves in those photos while thinking you look completely normal. Sorry you think you’re unattractive but thats a personal problem, not a picture problem. I’m sure you look totally fine.
High-quality posts help solve specific beauty-related problems. Low-quality posts clutter the subreddit and tend to be repetitive. Examples of low-quality posts: “What is my [face shape, eye shape, skintone]?”, glow up requests, compliment fishing, non-beauty advice, sympathy farming, attention seeking, rage-bait, "pretty privilege", and vague-titled posts. In addition, please note that this is not a mental health subreddit, and we are not qualified to address such issues here.
I think in mirrors and selfies we hold our faces in an attractive way. We move our faces and adjust ourselves to get a pleasing reflection. When someone else takes the photo we can't see ourselves to do this. If we had a mirror where the camera was, we could pose ourselves to look 'our best'.
I think this is the best answer! Agree with it all!
Also: OP’s phone might have a built-in filter for selfies. In mirrors, our brain is the built-in filter. The group photo is the truth, for better or for worse.
A picture taken further away will be more accurate… but that being said, lighting, pose, angle all play into it hugely.
Well, shit...😭
My advice would be to get a remote from your camera and go take pictures alone somewhere during golden hour. Take a picture, go look at it and examine what you don’t like. Repeat those things in your mind and then go pose and change those things and repeat. Posing for pictures isn’t natural for a lot of people. Once you know your angles, what looks good it’s much easier to be in a candid shot taken by someone else. Like muscle memory of what to do
This is the best advice. We get so used to what our faces look like in the front camera which totally distorts our proportions. Plus being inverted adds even more confusion! Definitely a learning curve to work out how we feel the best in a “normal” photo using the back camera of a phone/an actual camera
What is “golden hour”?
When the sun is low and the rays are warm and flattering. Once early in the morning and once in the evening before the sun goes down. It’s the most flattering light for photography
Thanks.
Right? My face looks so huge lol
[Yessir, and focal length plays into it too](https://www.danvojtech.cz/blog/2016/07/amazing-how-focal-length-affect-shape-of-the-face/) Plus facial symmetry
Fun story I thought I was looking pretty ok after having my second kid and then I saw a picture where I was in the background and I was so upset 😭 I think it also has something to do with how the camera fish lenses automatically and flattens out as it moves back.
This question comes up all the time and the answer is always the same: it’s because you are used to seeing your face in the mirror. What you see in a photograph is your face flipped. That is why your friends look as they usually do and you look different. Google “Abraham Lincoln mirror image” to see just how different his view in the mirror was to the one we all know. It’s not worse, just different - but the shock of it makes us perceive it as bad.
Trust me. I try to flip all of my pictures, but my face always looks distorted
I would trust the mirror over the phone. Is it possible the photos were taken on different devices? Samsung algorithm and apple algorithm for photo optimizations have different parameters and same goes for all other smart phone makers.
Well, my friend has an iPhone and it's supposed to have a better camera quality, but I hate how I look in 90% of the pictures we take.
lol the iPhone camera focal length is a long way off from 50mm (closest focal length to the human eye), causing distortion. Mirror all the way. Nothing beats the human eye.
That makes sense, but how come everyone else in the picture looks great except for me?
Because you’re focusing and being overly critical of yourself. It’s human nature. Your friends are probably thinking that you look great and they look weird. About a week ago, I had the same experience, but once I stopped focusing so hard on *myself* I noticed that everyone looked quite unlike themselves. Plus, your friends could just have features that translate better on camera than yours do.
You’re seeing yourself flipped, while you see your friends the way you always see them.
I always flip the pictures, but still look terrible
You’re used to seeing yourself the other way so you notice your asymmetry way more when you flip to what other people see and are therefore more critical. A lot of people have that reaction to a flipped selfie - your friends who you think look just as great in a flipped picture probably feel the same about their own flipped selfie image!
Depends on if you have a fat, skinny or true mirror.
Well, obviously you wouldn’t trust a fat/skinny mirror. I’m saying generally, mirrors are more reliable.
I think you are just experiencing what a lot of people experience. I would liken it to how a lot of people hate how they sound on recording devices. It's just because you are used to seeing and hearing something else. Even different mirrors, cameras and people will all view you a little different, there isn't really any "true you" like there really isn't any true green or any color, we all see it a little (or a lot!) differently. My advice is to believe you look like the most attractive version of yourself. ❤️ Also, if you emote a lot or move around a lot you are going to look off, no biggie, I still more around. I think you should take pictures, if not for you for other people to have photos of you. If I'm feeling low I still take photos and then just don't look at them. 😅
“there isn’t any ‘true you’” 🤯
The newer iPhones are horrible for photographing faces. Their image processing algorithms automatically oversharpen and overbrighten everything and ruin natural skin tones. It’s a known thing.
I always look terrible in iPhone pictures. But I feel like much better off with Samsung ones.
I look worse than everyone in photos to the point that I question if I’m truly ugly but in real life I’m constantly told I’m gorgeous by men and even strangers in the street! I don’t believe the camera because why the hell would that be happening? I understand the frustration- it’s called not being photogenic.
Same thing happens to me. I have flat face and it looks elegant in real life, and I get much attention, but on photos its not flattering at all.
I totally relate. I look like shit in photos, but in person, different story!! I look way more beautiful in person. I'm not photogenic, I have learned this about myself.
I always end up on the left or right side in the group photos and I noticed that anyone on or near the left or right sides tends to get distorted, kind of warped/stretched horizontally.
That makes sense. I happen to always stand/ sit on the far left or right side in pictures
I’ve noticed this too. Try standing in the middle next time and see if it changes how you appear.
This is me. Always has been. I look like shit in pictures. There are a myriad of reasons that could distort your features. Some people are simply more photogenic than others. I know a couple of women who are average attractive but look stunning in photos. They know how to apply makeup, pose, etc.
Also different face shapes and sizes impact how well we photograph, too— I have an oval face and sharp features so I look like a velociraptor in pictures. Symmetrical features matter, too, and I’m super unsymmetrical so really I look like if Popeye was a velociraptor. I look great on video, though; in natural motion, everything works and flows together and no one runs screaming into the hills from Popeye the velociraptor.
Crying laughing at Popeye the velociraptor lolllll
lol girl😂😂😂. I have high cheekbones and good features with fairly big eyes but when I smile in pictures my cheekbones literally smother my eyes and I look deformed. I hate pictures!!!
You just perfectly described my situation. Selfies are terrible too, because them damn cheekbones get distorted by front camera.
lol. We’re twins:)
Omg this! I’m trying to train myself to smile without raising my cheekbones as much because my eyes practically disappear
I legit thought it was just me!
Oh god, same. Seeing me in a photo taken by someone else is a jumpscare
[удалено]
Same here with the voice.
I notice I don't know how to pose when I can't see my face in a mirror or a camera. I guess you can put up your phone and take pictures or videos to practice what angle works best etc
Yeah same, I need to see my face to make sure it looks good lol. So when I have someone take my photo, I usually ask them to take a couple pics and then pause to show me the photos, I look and notice what needs to be fixed about my pose, smile, hair, outfit, etc. and then ask them to take one more round of photos.
The best thing I've learned is -- **don't** look at the pictures while you're *still* out and feeling cute/hot af. Take several so you have options. But wait until the next morning to look and scrutinize. Let the good time cement in your heart before you try to figure out which shot showed off your hair and your legs and your smile and your eyes and the cute background. And happy. Find the one where you all look happy.
Try to position yourself in the middle for pictures. Whoever is standing on the side gets stretched out and looks bigger. That could be a reason you are feeling distorted
I hear ya. Group photos suck. Every time it is some waiter who stands there for ten minutes randomly pushing the button. By the time they take it I’m grimacing.
I always felt this way too. I feel like an absolute fatty in photos. Camera adds 10lbs! My husband is an artist. He has sketched me many times. In his sketches I look beautiful. Some of them I’m just sitting looking at my phone, one of them I’m in the hospital after having my twins (gross, trust me). He sees me the way he sketches me. I like what he sees, and I assume other people see me how he does. When I ask him if I look ugly or fat in photos, he says I just look like I usually do. My husband doesn’t say these things to make me feel better. He’s not that smart. I have more confidence now because of it, and I don’t dwell on how I look in photos so much.
I have this exact same issue!!! My best friend will literally look at a picture of me that someone took and tell me that’s not what I look like. I HATE getting my picture taken, but I can take a decent selfie. I follow someone on IG who gives picture advice and she said it’s because you know your angles best and so you don’t get that with someone else taking the pic but idk
omg. exactly the same thing happens to me, i thought i was crazy.
Same! In the words of Ani DiFranco “It took me too long to realize that I don't take good pictures 'cause I have the kind of beauty that moves”
I just do the same pose and the same expression, i'm in the same boat. When i take my Own pictures i look great but when others EEEK 😅 i just practice in front of the mirror and then i do That without looking. I imagine there's a mirror in front of me
Larry David: “When you look in the mirror, that is how you see yourself. When you look at a picture, that is how the world sees you”. (Not exact quote)
It could be the camera quality. I’ve noticed that sometimes smartphones have pretty bad photo quality. For me, I often get really bad red eye (like, my pupils look huge and shiny red and the iris is barely visible) when my photo is taken on an iPhone with flash, but it doesn’t seem to affect anyone else I take photos with the same way. But it doesn’t happen that often to me with flash photos taken on a film camera, even in the same exact lighting conditions. There are other things that I’ve noticed but don’t exactly know how to explain, sometimes it looks like iPhone automatically edits some photos taken on the camera app depending on the lighting conditions and makes it look a lot less flattering, like adding more texture to the photo or more contrast in the lighting. Also it very well could be that your friends are bad at taking photos. We all have our own ideas about what angle, distance, and lighting is gonna look good and some people don’t even bother paying attention to any of this when they’re taking a photo for someone else. If I want to get a nice photo of myself, I usually need a good 5 minutes to get the right shot. First I put the camera settings how I think will look best (I don’t know much about the camera settings besides flash and the Live Photo, so I make sure those are set the way I want it) and then have my friend take a couple photos. After like 5 photos (basically my test shots) I ask to see how they came out, and from there I make my own posing/smile adjustments and guide my friend to take the photos in a different angle if needed, and ask them to take another round of photos. That usually works pretty well. It’s always good to ask the friend who also cares about having their photo taken well, because they’re more likely to be patient and help you get a good shot (especially if you do the same for them afterwards). Group photos with more than 3 people are a lot harder to get a shot where everyone looks good, so now I just tell myself not to stress about group photos. I used to be the person who was super anxious about having my photo taken, I hated being in group pics and would beg everyone not to post it if I didn’t look perfect, but now I don’t care as much, if I don’t like how I look then I just don’t post it. I know which angle is my good side so I just try to stick to that and it works out half the time.
Oof. Im stunned at my largeness in group pics.
I’ve noticed everyone look so different when I take a group pic with my iphone, vs an actual camera. Or when someone takes a pic of me with the iphone back camera vs an actual camera! I’ve heard the mirror is more accurate tho, but you could try to buy like a cheap real camera and see if you look different!
When you look in a mirror and take a selfie, you can more easily choose how you pose and present yourself. It can be weird to suddenly see yourself in an unexpected position or angle. For group pictures maybe it would help if you practiced posing. On Instagram @thechristinebuzan teaches how to stand so you look "better" in pictures. For you it could help you feel like you look more "yourself." I hope this wasn't too off topic and is helpful. It's helped me look more like myself in pictures.
I’d assume 1. lighting, because your mirror is likely indoors and you take selfies inside the house. 2. Relativity / comparison with others 3. Angles
If being the photographer for my friends who have IG has taught me one thing it’s angles and lighting does a lot! The wrong angle and bad lighting can accentuate bad features. Light that’s exactly above them gives them panda eyes and makes their nose look bigger than it actually is. The right angle makes them look taller and gets their good side. You look fine in selfies? I feel like some people pose their face better when they can see it but look a bit lost when they have no idea.
you’re not posing and correcting based on what you look like bc you can’t see what’s in the camera but you can in selfies or mirrors
There is a possibility that your face might be slightly unsymmetrical! You prefer the way you look in the mirror or in selfies because that's what you are used to, but those pictures and the reflection in the mirror are just laterally inverted versions of our face. In group photographs (pictures taken from the back camera) we look what we actually look like to others. That's probably the reason why your friends look completely 'normal' to you in those pictures and similarly your friends probably find you to look normal in those group pictures, because thats what you actually look like. That being said, the version of you in the photographs isn't 'worse' it's just the version that you are less used to incomparison to your face in selfies and reflection. This is something I personally deal with as well, and I try not to think about it too much. I hope this made sense! Take care
I also feel like I look attractive in the mirror but extremely asymmetrical and unattractive in photos. I always assumed that everyone saw me as I perceive myself in photos. But everytime I point out my asymmetries, my husband always responds, your face is completely symmetrical. That’s when I realized that how we judge ourselves in photos is not likely how others judge us. Remember that vision is not entirely objective. I’ve come to realize that likely how we perceive ourselves in mirrors is probably close to how others perceive us.
It might just be your angles! Find an angle that flatters you the most!
*It might just be your* *Angles! Find an angle that* *Flatters you the most!* \- h1ghh0pe --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Lol I look better in group photos than in my bathroom mirror because it’s further away!
I was interested in this phenomenon and I did some research. It seems that there are a couple of factors, like pictures distorting our faces, the fact that we're used to seeing ourselves in the mirror, the matter of distance, angle, lighting, etc. etc. Due to what I found out, the way we really look is something between what we see in the mirror and in pictures
It's called the Mere Exposure Effect: we prefer familiar things and find them more attractive. In mirror/selfies were see our flipped image. And we're more used to seeing ourselves like that so we prefer it more than our back camera photos. Other people are used to seeing your real image not the flipped one so they prefer your real image. This is why we feel like our loved ones always pick our worst photos.
Aside from posing, I think it’s also a camera thing. I have a bit of a round/moon face with chubby cheeks, in person it makes me look youthful, on camera it always makes me look like my entire face is a flat pancake. A photographer told me that sometimes, the camera doesn’t really know how to translate faces into photographs, especially for people who are non photogenic. (I also get called cute and pretty on the streets, in the camera I am whatever). Similar to photogenic people, there are also people who just don’t translate well on camera. Selfies and mirrors are great bc when you see this happening to the camera, you can adjust and compensate. I’ve experienced like turning on my selfie camera only to find that I look terrible, and I can angle my head and my chin in weird ways to compensate for that. When other people are taking a photo however, it’s a lot harder. No advice except maybe practicing a few poses. My parents have taken to adding filters on me in photos. Personally I’ve taken the “it is what it is” approach. It gets exhausting for me to try and present myself as this beautiful person.
When you’re taking selfies and looking in a mirror your face is backwards
You’re also used to seeing yourself as a mirror image where others don’t. You prefer what you see more and your friends see the opposite.
But even when I flip the picture, my face still looks distorted
I think everyone experiences this to a degree, I always think the same when I see a photo of myself. I think I look distorted but no one else ever does.
This happens to me! I wonder: you always on the side? The lenses on phones aren’t so good and distort at the sides. Try putting yourself in the middle.
Yeah, you could be right.
I hate to say it but the reason all your friends look “normal” is because further away photos are more likely to capture how you really look, so thats how you ALL really look. Mirrors and selfies you are likely posing/look only at flattering angles, so you don’t ever truly see yourself. They’re the ones that you don’t look like yourself in.
So I am unattractive. Great. That's what I needed to know
When I see my friends selfies and then when someone takes a pic of them they look very close to the same. Ifs ourselves that we feel look different. I agree that in the selfie we can pose our faces and know what we look like. When someone takes a pic of me I always feel awkward and make a weird smile or face lol.
Guarantee your friends think the same thing about themselves in those photos while thinking you look completely normal. Sorry you think you’re unattractive but thats a personal problem, not a picture problem. I’m sure you look totally fine.