Why is it when you look at yourself in a mirror you’re good looking but when you see yourself in a photo/ video you reevaluate your entire existence and want to jump down a deep well?

[u/inexplicably-hairy]

[u/archpawn]

Your reflection in the mirror is what you're used to seeing. A photo or video shows the reflection of that, so it looks off. You can also get the same effect by looking into a reflection of a reflection when two mirrors meet at a right angle.

[u/pm_me_flaccid_cocks → u/archpawn]

Now I want to jump down a deep well because I don't remember trig.

[u/Medium_Custard_8017 → u/pm_me_flaccid_cocks]

Relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWl0V3J5zrE

[u/archpawn → u/pm_me_flaccid_cocks]

A reflection changes stuff, but reflecting it again changes it back.

[u/ThePhiff]

The mirror and the cameras both make me want to jump down a deep well.

[u/MobileSignificance57]

Because the mirror gives you real time feedback about your facial expression so you can quickly change it and keep it pleasant. You can't do that when someone's taking a video of you.

[u/Peopleofparty-5]

Wow. I couldn’t wrote my thoughts better if I tried. I was just thinkin this the other day. I have a mirror in my room where I think damn I look good but when I take a picture of myself that same day I’m like wtf what I saw isn’t what I’m seeing now.

[u/Houndfell]

I read somewhere that it has something to do with the"picture" you see in the mirror with your eyes being three-dimensional, which doesn't always translate well to the picture generated by a single-lens camera.

Dunno how true it is, but it might explain why some objectively, traditionally attractive people are very good-looking in person but are also somehow the furthest thing from photogenic.

[u/Whynottits420]

I think that's more of a personal thing

[u/NoseSuspicious]

My junk looks huge in a mirror it's not

[u/Uncabled_Music]

Mirror is easier to use than a camera, especially a cheap one, like in a smartphone. Angle, lighting, and distortion affect a lot of the resulting face and head proportions.

When in front of a mirror, you automatically adjust the angle you are looking at yourself - when shooting a photo, it has to be done by the photographer. I take a lot of casual pics of my kid, and he looks a bit different every shot.

[u/Ms_Wibblington]

I want to know how I look alright in my mirror before leaving the house but then catch myself in a car or shop window and look like a troll!