Reading Comprehension 6 f I sem.

As you get ready to go out, you glance in the mirror for a final check of your look. You’re happy with what you see. The hair is neat and nicely styled, your complexion is tanned and your smile could make any Hollywood actor jealous. Later in the evening, you are more than happy to pose when friends get their phones out to take photos. The next day, however, when the photos appear on social networking sites, you are horrified. You don’t recognise the person you are looking at. How can that be you? The nose looks far too big, the skin too white and the hair is all over the place! So just why do we look different in photos to how we imagine ourselves to be?

According to the article, people are pleased when they

There isn’t just one reason. Firstly, people often look better early in the evening than later on. You have probably just come out of the shower, brushed your hair and put on your elegant clothes. If there was something wrong, you would do something about it and then admire yourself again. When the photos are taken, you may be tired or perhaps full after a good meal. Your hair may not look quite so good as it did. Often, when people get home and look in the mirror, they think: “I look terrible”. It’s just that, being home and alone, it doesn’t matter.

The writer says that

Another reason is to do with angles. In the mirror, we see our nose, mouth and chin from above. This is more flattering than looking up from below. We also turn slightly and smile trying to get the best look possible. Unfortunately, our friends probably aren’t as careful. Photos are taken when we aren’t ready, often from the wrong position. You could watch carefully to see when someone is going to take a photo and pose for it but, although the photos might look better, your evening won’t be very relaxing.

One way to look better in photographs is to

Finally, we all have a tendency to measure and compare ourselves against others. Why is it that other people always look better in photos than we do? Even people who aren’t as good-looking, or don’t wear such stylish clothes as you? The reason for this is that you could see them all evening, so you know exactly what they looked like. The photos of them are not unexpected in any way. However, when you look at a photo of yourself, you are comparing it not to how you really looked that evening, but to your own idealized image of yourself that you have in your own head. In that version of yourself, your skin is clear and fresh-looking, your hair is neatly in place, and your clothes flatter you.

The difference between looking at yourself and other people in photos is that they