When I open my camera, front view, and stare at the picture of myself, I notice something. I look different. My skin is more smooth and lighter. My lips have a tinge of bright red. Any blemishes, scars, or acne that I usually see on myself, is non-existent in the lens of the camera. However, that’s no surprise.
According to an article by The Atlantic on new technology used by the iPhone for selfies, “Every digital camera uses algorithms to transform the different wavelengths of light that hit its sensor into an actual image.” This means that the iPhone has been built to change the structure of your face to make it more “pleasing”. It’s one of the reasons why many warn not to believe everything you see on the internet. Phones and numerous apps are built to make it easy for people to alter their faces in order to seem more perfect.
However, there are countless ways to modify your face. Filters are widespread, around the world and on many different social media platforms. There are even apps dedicated to filters such as Snow, a mobile application from the South Korean company, Naver Corporation. I’ll be honest, I have Snow downloaded on my phone and I do regularly use it. There are hundreds of filters to choose from and I find myself losing track of time just trying as many as I can. In the app, my face is definitely lighter and my lips are a deep red. My eyelashes seem to flutter more due to the added length, my cheeks hold a soft blush and my eyebrows are fuller. Unless you turn off the makeup setting, the app will automatically put makeup once your face is detected.
This form of face reconstruction using augmented reality technology seems to be generally accepted by society. Filters can also “tap into a moment of extreme relevance” according to an article by a marketing news outlet, The Drum. An example of this would be when a new movie is released, and then Instagram adds a new filter of “Which Character would you be?,” in order to help market the release and make the movie more relevant.
Playing with Snow constantly for days on end, I got used to the face that it showed me. It started to change the way I saw myself in my head. I really started to believe I had lips that red, and a soft blush on my cheeks 24/7. One day I went back to my regular camera roll and was shocked to see something different. Of course, it still was altered, but not to the extent that Snow does it.
When I saw a non-filtered version of myself looking back at me I wanted to cry. I had gotten used to the Snow version of myself that I completely failed to remember that I don’t look that photogenic in real life. No one does, but that tends to be forgotten when you live in a world of sparkles and tinged red lips.
The simple solution for this issue would probably be to never use these filters again and only trust the image of yourself that the mirror projects, right? It’s not that easy. Even the way we perceive ourselves in the mirror can be distorted. Author Ozgun Atasoy of Scientific American, writes of this in his article, “You Are Less Beautiful Than You Think”:
Inflated perceptions of one’s physical appearance is a manifestation of a general phenomenon psychologists call “self-enhancement.” Researchers have shown that people overestimate the likelihood that they would engage in a desirable behavior, but are remarkably accurate when predicting the behavior of a stranger. For example, people overestimate the amount of money they would donate to charity while accurately predicting others’ donations.
People can do the same with the way they look. We can perceive ourselves to be more attractive than someone else might think. This calls attention to a question that’s been lingering in my mind for a while: Where can we see the “real” version of ourselves? The one that others see? The answer seems to be vague. Of course, we can look at a picture that someone else took of ourselves, but then again, a camera can distort and our brains, used to “self-enhancement,” may deceive us. What could possibly be the answer?
I think it boils down to the age-old saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Every individual has their own preferences about what they find to be attractive or not. It’s why we have so many different styles, not just of dressing, but of drawings, books, and even down to the different ways we tie our shoelaces. Looking to please all of these different tastes would be impossible. Even if someone’s appearance meets all of society’s standards, they still wouldn’t be liked by everyone. So you can go ahead and post only the pictures of yourself that Snow captures, or you can decide to post the “you” you see in the mirror, but even the way you look in these pictures can vary from person to person. The best we can do to make ourselves appear more attractive to others is to love ourselves for who we are. With or without added lengths to our eyelashes, lighter or tanned skin, and of course with or without the approval of others. When we learn to do that, maybe then and only then we can see our true selves. ❦
Hello! My name is Disty Mahmud and I’m a current senior in high school. My interest and hobbies include environmental sustainability, languages and hanging out with my cat. I was supposed to study abroad in Ghana this September but that unfortunately got pushed back to January. Hopefully I get to go and share my experiences through the writing I’ll do as part of Rosehip Tea & Company!
