Why do I look older in photos?

It’s usually the camera and the light, not your face. Here’s what’s going on, and how to take a photo that looks like you.

Updated · 6 min read

1. The lens is too close

Phone cameras use wide-angle lenses. Held at selfie distance, the parts of your face nearest the lens look bigger. A 2018 study in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery by Ward and colleagues estimated that a selfie taken at about 12 inches (30 cm) makes the nose look roughly 30% wider than a portrait taken at 5 feet (1.5 m).

Fix: hold the phone further away or use the 2x lens, then crop in.

2. The light comes from above

Ceiling lights and midday sun cast shadows under the brows, under the eyes and along the lines from nose to mouth. Those shadows look like deeper lines and darker circles.

Fix: face a window so the light hits your face from the front, at about eye level.

3. The light is hard

A bare bulb or direct sun makes sharp-edged shadows that pick out every bump in the skin. Soft light, like an overcast sky or a big window, wraps around the face and smooths it.

Fix: move into open shade outdoors, or stand back from a window rather than in a sunbeam.

4. The phone sharpens your skin

Phone cameras process every shot: they sharpen edges and boost local contrast to make photos look crisp. On a face, that also boosts fine lines, pores and texture you’d never notice in person.

Fix: soft, even light gives the camera less texture to exaggerate. Some phones also let you turn down sharpening or use a portrait mode.

5. Your expression is frozen mid-move

A smile creases the skin around the eyes. In a 2017 study, Ganel and Goodale found people judged smiling faces as older than neutral ones, and surprised faces as the youngest. In person, those creases come and go; a photo keeps them.

Fix: take a burst and pick the frame where your expression is relaxed.

6. The camera is below you

A low camera shows the underside of the chin and jaw and puts shadow on the neck. It’s the least flattering angle for most people.

Fix: keep the camera at eye level or just above.

7. You’re used to your mirror image

Faces aren’t perfectly symmetrical, and the face you see every day is reversed. In a classic 1977 study, Mita, Dermer and Knight found people preferred mirror-reversed photos of themselves, while their friends preferred the normal version. The unflipped photo isn’t older, it’s just unfamiliar, and unfamiliar easily reads as “worse”.

Fix: nothing to fix. Other people see the unflipped you all the time, and it looks normal to them.

Try it yourself

Take two photos: one close up under a ceiling light, and one at arm’s length facing a window. Run both through the age guesser. The gap between the two guesses shows how much the setup alone moves the number. Read why AI guesses move.

Questions

Do I really look like my photos?

Partly. A photo taken from 5 feet away in soft front light is close to what people see. A close-up selfie under a ceiling light exaggerates features and texture.

Is the mirror or the camera more accurate?

The camera shows you the way other people see you, unflipped. But at selfie distance the lens distorts proportions, so a photo from further away is the fairest comparison.

Why do I look older in selfies than in photos others take?

Selfies are usually taken closer, from a lower angle and with the wide front camera, which adds distortion and shadow.

Sources

  1. Ward, B. et al. (2018). Nasal distortion in short-distance photographs: the selfie effect. JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery
  2. Ganel, T. & Goodale, M. A. (2017). The effects of smiling on perceived age defy belief. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
  3. Mita, T. H., Dermer, M. & Knight, J. (1977). Reversed facial images and the mere-exposure hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Test it on your own photos

Take one photo up close under a ceiling light and one at arm’s length by a window, then compare the guesses.

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