A scientific study released a few days ago confirmed what every portrait photographer has known forever:
If you take a picture of someone from very close up, it will distort their facial features.
This fact is not well known by people who take selfies which, apparently, is the number one cause of distorted faces. Some of these folks are going to plastic surgeons and requesting surgery to correct their distorted facial appearance.
Boris Paskhover, an assistant professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School’s Department of Otolaryngology who specializes in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, frequently was shown selfies as examples of why patients were requesting surgery to make their noses smaller.
Researchers have named this horrible disfiguring issue as . . . wait for it . . . “The Selfie Effect.”
Dr. Boris Paskhover worked with the computer science department at Stanford University to develop a mathematical model to explain why noses look bigger when photographed close up.
Their mathematical model determined that most selfies are shot from a distances of about 12 inches. This short distance makes a nose look 30% wider. But, and here’s modern science in action, if a photo is shot from at least five feet away then the nose will look normal.
Researchers concluded that selfies are a public health issue. So please, for the sake of your health, hire a professional portrait photographer for your business headshots and other important portraits. Your nose will thank you.
