cameraIf you are like me and always shudder at photos of yourself taken close-up, you can take heart. A new study from Cal-Tech proves that photographing a subject up close makes them appear uglier and less trustworthy. Holy hell. It explains so much!

Apparently, the close range warps the features and makes the person appear more sinister. Photographs taken from four feet away or more appear much more attractive regardless of how attractive that subject really is. Wow. Crazy.

But it explains so much. I did a little experiment on my own and looked through some photographs of me to see how I felt about them. Sure enough, the ones that were taken at long range, even if it was a close up on my face with the lens, came out better. See the example below:

me close

I hate this photo of me (though I love my necklace). I think my face looks totally disproportionate and my body looks warped. If anything, I look like I am standing in front of a fun house mirror. When I saw this, I thought, OMG I hope I don't really look like that.

Now there is this one:

This one was taken six feet away from me with the same camera on the same day (different outfits, though). My nose looks smaller and, though you can't see my body, I do think my face looks in better proportion. I may not be Cindy Crawford, but it's a photo I don't hate.

For people who are terrified to be in photos for fear of looking disproportionate or bad or weird, this study is a godsend. Now we know to duck and cover if a photographer gets too close, but we should smile pretty for the camera when he is more than four feet away.

Keep it in mind!

Do you hate close-ups of yourself?