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Why do I look worse in pictures than in the mirror?
Because of the proximity of your face to the camera, the lens can distort certain features, making them look larger than they are in real life. Pictures also only provide a 2-D version of ourselves. For example, just changing the focal length of a camera can even change the width of your head.
Do we look better in person?
No, some people really do look better in person. The thing about pictures is that they’re static, which is a little bit of a mind bend when you think of how much motion the average human face articulates on a daily basis. There’s also the interplay of lighting, position, angle, and expression.
Why do photos make you look ugly?
Another way why photos make you look ugly is by comparison. Like we pointed out above, we’re used to seeing faces in real life that are moving in a fluid manner. Guess where you see the most photos on a day to day basis: billboards. Yup, those perfectly photoshopped faces.
Why is it better to look at yourself in the mirror?
Also, when looking yourself in the mirror, you have the advantage of always correcting the angle in real-time. Unconsciously, you’ll always look at yourself from a good angle. In contrast, photos always seem to catch you at a bad angle. Everybody, no matter how ugly they are, has a good (or at least, better) side.
Why do we find photos of ourselves so odd?
So when we see a photograph of ourselves, which is not flipped “imperfections you’ve gotten used to over time are now new and surprising”. A commenter said that because we are far more used to looking in the mirror, than looking at photos of ourselves, the latter will always seem odd.
What’s the difference between a photo and a mirror?
One Reddit user, appropriately named ‘Extremely Qualified’, explained that a mirror conveys a more dimensional image, closer to 3D, whereas a photo flattens the shape to 2D. Different camera lenses also change the shape and depth of the human face.