Face Flip

so my wife noticed something as i was looking over a self-portrait of myself, and something a few readers discussed in the original comments…

the “feel” of this pic is quite different when it is flipped L to R.

this is kind of strange, because obviously the very same pixels are arranged in the very same way in both shots… it just so happens that one is “backwards.”

that lead me to question whether or not a self-portrait should be as OTHERS see you, or as YOU see yourself in a mirror. which one is a more faithful self-portrait?

i hadn’t really thought about that much, since before this impromptu shot i hadn’t considered it to be much of an issue. i knew that faces were never perfectly symmetrical, but apparently, not only is there asymmetry, which side certain features are on can make quite a difference in terms of how we perceive that face.

here’s the “flipped” version, which would be the way that the world sees me (and my stairway, for that matter:

and here is the original version, straight from the camera, which is the way i see myself in a mirror:

which do you prefer? what kind of “vibe” do you get from each? i am sure dissertations on human psychology have been written on the subject of facial asymmetry and the implications of that asymmetry, but they’re likely very dry and boring. so i ask my readers instead…

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13 Comments

1. brewcaster, May 22, 2008:

   I was about to type that it looks like one has your face brighter than the other. I was about to call bullshit that is was just flipped. Then I noticed your face gets brighter the lower you are on my Dell 19″ Ultrasharp monitor. I don’t get it either. But as I scroll either picture up and down, your face changes its tone. Does this happen to anyone else? Otherwise I get the same feeling/vibe out of each photo.

2. Katie B., May 22, 2008:

   Amazing! What a interesting way to think about self portraits. I prefer the picture that is the world’s view aka the “flipped” version. I’ve heard that eyes have an original tendency to focus on the left hand side of a image because of the way that we grow up reading pages from left to right.

   In the photo the darker sides and the lines on the left are where my eyes begin to focus and then I am guided to your image.

   I never noticed it until seeing the “flipped” image but I definitely like it better that way.

3. Ken, May 23, 2008:

   @brew: that’s one of the downfalls of LCD monitors… the backlight has a LOT to do with the ultimate quality and homogeny of the screen. i think what you’ve discovered is that the lower portion of the screen is backlit more strongly.

   @katie: does that mean that eastern asians who originally learned to read top to bottom, right to left, would prefer the other shot? 🙂

4. Lynne, May 23, 2008:

   The stairs are on the other side. That’s all I got.

5. Nilsa, May 23, 2008:

   Wow, that’s really interesting. When I looked at them quickly, I felt the first one had a softer feel to it. Gentler. And the second one was more somber. I’m going to have to try that with some pictures of me!

6. melissa lion, May 23, 2008:

   My vote is the first one.

7. pistachoo (random visitor), May 23, 2008:

   I too prefer the flipped version. Perhaps because my brain knows that most people are right handed and that the shutter release on all cameras is always under the right hand index finger.

   Somehow the white wall in the original shot makes the staircase feel cramped, but in the flipped version feel larger/wider more “grand”. Human brains are weird!

8. Geoff Hoogasian, May 23, 2008:

   the top picture looks as if your thinking “I’m not getting any ass tonignt” (you look kind of bummin)
   the bottom picture looks as if your posture is slightly more erect and you think that some ass may be possible.

9. Kiala, May 24, 2008:

   I think your glasses look crooked in the second picture. And also I can see Waldo hiding behind you on the stairs.

   Did I win?

10. Crissy, May 27, 2008:

    You’re a pain in the ass in either picture so what does it matter to me?

11. Ken, May 27, 2008:

    so harsh, wifey–so harsh.

12. Crissy, May 27, 2008:

    Ugh. I’m only kidding you big baby.

13. Crissy, May 27, 2008:

    I actually like both of these pictures because you’re soooo good lookin’