Why do we always look different in photographs than we do in the mirror?

hazydayz · 27/02/15 - 13:23

I just don't understand it. Even now I'm looking at myself and I think i like great yet I can look a bit chubby in photos. When I look in the mirror I think I look great but i just don't look that way anywhere else.

pope_tart · 27/02/15 - 13:32

because I never, EVER, clean my mirrors.....by keeping them a bit mucky, every time I look into them the murky haze takes years off my face and all my wrinkles disappear

try to avoid mirrors outside the home though as it's not good for my heart

......same with photos

TheTruth1983 · 27/02/15 - 13:33

hazydayz wrote: »

I just don't understand it. Even now I'm looking at myself and I think i like great yet I can look a bit chubby in photos. When I look in the mirror I think I look great but i just don't look that way anywhere else.

Maybe the camera really does add 10lbs?

grauniad · 27/02/15 - 13:33

The photograph is much more representative of how you look than a mirror. When your picture is taken, you usually are not aware of what the camera sees. When you look in a mirror, you will be 'posing' , looking at yourself from the best angle, in the best light. The best photo will probably be taken looking at your own reflection.
A mirror is the best 'camera' you will ever own.

TheTruth1983 · 27/02/15 - 13:35

I have a big head (large brain?) and photos make it look even bigger than looking at it in a mirror for some reason.

nessyfencer · 27/02/15 - 13:35

Because you are used to what you look like in the mirror (effectively a mirror image of your actual face). When you see yourself in a photo, you are seeing what everyone else sees. Since it's not what you are used to, it looks strange. Kinda like hearing your own voice on the radio.

kitty86 · 27/02/15 - 13:35

I got told that the way you see yourself in the mirror depends on how much confidence in yourself you have.

TheTruth1983 · 27/02/15 - 13:37

kitty86 wrote: »

I got told that the way you see yourself in the mirror depends on how much confidence in yourself you have.

I see a fat, hairy, balding man looking back. What does that say about how I see myself?

hazydayz · 27/02/15 - 13:39

It's just photos I have a problem with. It's almost unrecognizable yet i use webcams for video chat and i look on them the same way i do in the mirror and i've taken pics that way before too and it's the same! But never ever like that with someone else taking them.

And what annoys me also is other people in the photos. WHen i see other people in the photos they always look EXACTLY like i see them with my own eyes yet when i see myself I don't see that at all in the mirror.

nessyfencer · 27/02/15 - 13:42

hazydayz wrote: »

It's just photos I have a problem with. It's almost unrecognizable yet i use webcams for video chat and i look on them the same way i do in the mirror and i've taken pics that way before too and it's the same! But never ever like that with someone else taking them.

And what annoys me also is other people in the photos. WHen i see other people in the photos they always look EXACTLY like i see them with my own eyes yet when i see myself I don't see that at all in the mirror.

Webcams will give a mirror image, as does a mirror. There are minor difference in each side of your face. You are so used to seeing them in the mirror that when you see a photo and these minor difference have switched sides then it confuses you and you dislike what you see. With other people, you are seeing them in the photo exactly how you normally see them.

kitty86 · 27/02/15 - 13:42

TheTruth1983 wrote: »

I see a fat, hairy, balding man looking back. What does that say about how I see myself?

I have no idea.

On the other hand I can look in the mirror and think wow I look great then I can take a photo looking exactly the same nothing changing and the picture is not the same as what I can see In the mirror.

Maybe that whole taking a picture of yourself whilst you're looking in the mirror thing has some merit after all.

Hank1234 · 27/02/15 - 13:43

Because the camera never lies

WinterLily · 27/02/15 - 13:56

Hank1234 wrote: »

Because the camera never lies

But sometimes I see photo's of other people and think that doesn't look like so and so?

Therefore I think the camera lies..... sometimes.:)

SnrDev · 27/02/15 - 14:17

TheTruth1983 wrote: »

I see a fat, hairy, balding man looking back. What does that say about how I see myself?

It means you're looking in my mirror. At my wife. Sling yer 'ook sonny.

;-)

chrisjr · 27/02/15 - 14:20

hazydayz wrote: »

It's just photos I have a problem with. It's almost unrecognizable yet i use webcams for video chat and i look on them the same way i do in the mirror and i've taken pics that way before too and it's the same! But never ever like that with someone else taking them.

And what annoys me also is other people in the photos. WHen i see other people in the photos they always look EXACTLY like i see them with my own eyes yet when i see myself I don't see that at all in the mirror.

Try an experiment.

Load a photo of yourself into an image editing program (eg Paint.NET which is free) and use that to flip the image to make it a mirror image. See what that does.

Victoria Sponge · 27/02/15 - 14:20

I would've thought a mirror view is more representative and accurate, because cameras vary in quality.

Semierotic · 27/02/15 - 14:21

hazydayz wrote: »

WHen i see other people in the photos they always look EXACTLY like i see them with my own eyes yet when i see myself I don't see that at all in the mirror.

Does it not strike you as completely obvious why that would be?

TheTruth1983 · 27/02/15 - 14:21

SnrDev wrote: »

It means you're looking in my mirror. At my wife. Sling yer 'ook sonny.

;-)

Be funny if your wife posted on here

Namira · 27/02/15 - 14:26

Well, everything is the wrong way round in a mirror, including your face. Everyone has facial asymmetries and flaws that they don't notice in the mirror because they are so used to looking at themselves at that angle. When you are looking in a mirror, angle another mirror towards it and you'll see what other people see.

gemma-the-husky · 27/02/15 - 14:32

as others have said, it's the left-right asymmetry.

supposedly those with the most symmetrical features tend to be regarded as the most good looking.

Default_User · 27/02/15 - 14:34

Another difference is that your mirror image is always looking back at you (it has to or you wouldn't be able to see it) but in a photo you may often be looking away from the camera lens, and that is something that feels unusual to see of yourself, and a bit detached.

BastardBeaver · 27/02/15 - 15:48

I'm banned from looking in mirrors. I used to do it excessively, at least 500 times a day, even having to leave class or work to go and check myself or having to stop at every car wing mirror on the street.

Picto · 27/02/15 - 15:51

I've installed those wavy funhouse mirrors in my house so that my image looks normal.

blueisthecolour · 27/02/15 - 15:56

Easy solution - take a photo of you in the mirror

SnrDev · 27/02/15 - 16:01

I find that photos of attractive people look nicer so I have pictures on my desk of Robert Redford with Farrah Fawcett instead of me & t'wife (see post #18), and a picture in my wallet of our cleaner's daughter as she's really quite pretty and much nicer than my two football-mad sprogs.

Photos are great, as long as they're of properly attractive people.

hazydayz · 27/02/15 - 16:07

Doing that makes you look even more vain i think.

Hey there!

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Why do we always look different in photographs than we do in the mirror?

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