My Funny Picture

Weird question about pictures of myself. Pictures always look horrible.?

I have this thing where as when I look in the mirror I consider my looks to be good. Yet when I see a photo of myself I always think I look horrible. Any explanation for this? Anyone else have this problem?

Public Comments

1. Everyone has this problem, unless they're conceited. I forgot what it's called but Freud wrote about it. Everyone likes their mirror image better. Everyone ELSE who sees that picture will choose the picture over the mirrored image. It's something about perception. Sorry, I couldn't be more help. It's been forever since my psychology class. Maybe I need a refresher course.
2. Hey, the same thing happens to me!! I don't know what the explanation is, I'm just not photogenic, I guess. Great question, thank you for asking it, that's something I've always wondered.
3. Yes, I have the exact same problem. I always look HUGE and not very good in pictures, and they always end up giving me a double chin even though I don't have one. I'm a thin person, but pictures make me look obese!!!! Maybe it's the lighting or something. The thing is: I only look this bad in digital photos, not ones taken on film...so I guess it's something with digital photography, too.
4. I have the same problem, I just don't like pictures of myself. I can always find a flaw. When you look in the mirror if you see something you don't like you can change it, but a picture is perminent.
5. I have the same exact problem. Don't know why it is that. Is it because you see yourself in motion? We should try to see what happens with cams
6. Some people are photogenic and I believe that the reason is because they do not have angular features in the face which tend to cast small shadows. Even professional photographers do not seem to understand this and use flash which accentuates the problem. The use of adequate lighting other than flash, should help.
7. I have that very problem. It's all about the right angle. Pictures don't appear true to form because they are two dimensional. They are unable to pick up all the features that we see when we look in the mirror. So I bet 1 out of 20 pictures of yourself are probably beautiful. When they take pics for magazines, movies and such they always do millions of shots to get one that looks great. No worries!
8. Me too, luv! If I do see a pic that I think looks ok, everyone tells me it doesn't really look like me! LOL
9. me too.
10. Hi there yes i have exactly the same problem and have been trying to work it out for years. Think i finally have it though. I bet if you look at some photos of yourself when you were young they were great. i think that it is as we get older we are more aware of being photographed and try to look what we think is good for the camera opposed to just being ourselves, thats why i beleive the photos always turn out bad because they are forced and not a true account of what we really look like, plus remember not every photo is a good one. My advice and i will take this myself too is to allow yourself to be photographed more often without worrying and this will surely up the percentages of some good pics! good luck
11. You know I really don't know because I like the way I look in pictures better than I do in the mirror. I think I am photogenic for whatever reason but unfortunately do not look as good in person.
12. What does one have to do to see some pictures of his queen? I can't verify these claims without some evidence.
13. OMG I am the exact same way!!!! In the mirror I'm usually thinking... "Look how cute I am" in photos... EW! I'm not sure why this is but I break it down to me not being very photogenic.
14. I have that same problem. I'm horribly unphotogenic, or incredibly vain when looking in the mirror. Not sure which. :-D
15. I sometimes take flattering pictures. Some people say my pics always look great...well... that's dishonest. I'll only let them see the good ones. But I just don't think I'm that great looking. Eh...
16. That's why I put a pic of my dog. No one wants to see this mug anyway. You should totally put your pic as your avatar.... well, but then I'd miss the cookie one :( I like it better tan the dog one though. What was I sayin? Oh yeah... yeah, pics always make me look worse than I already do.
17. I'm with Linz--I always think my pics are better than the real thing. But I'm left handed, so maybe that freudian brain thing somebody up there mentioned is backwards on me? VIDEO on the other hand, is LUCIFER'S TOOL as far as I'm concerned! : )
18. LOL- yeah, me too- I don't have photoshop for nuthin'...
19. the camera adds 10 pounds.. maybe something to do with the shape of the lenses and at what angle the light hits it..and of course NO ONE looks good under fluorescent lighting.... and the FLASH thingy dont help either. so when u have an answer that makes sense to you maybe you could explain it to me
20. Awwwww man! That always happens to me. When I was younger I was so flustered about it I deiced not to take any more pictures. However now I am over myself (to-a-degree) and when I see a camera I'll just jump in front and do my famous half Elvis smirk and half cheesy grin while one eye of mine is closed. Whoooo! Yeeeeeeeeeah! :)