These Mirror Images Prove That Perfect Symmetry Isn't Always Pretty
Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
Does a symmetrical face automatically make someone more beautiful? If you ask science, the answer is yes.
Scientists have gone as far as having contests to find the most beautiful face with this in mind, and found the most beautiful face in Britain, determined by sheer proportional measurements.
But now a photographer is challenging this bold claim.
Photographer Alex John Beck photoshopped images of symmetrical faces to see if they'd truly be more beautiful than a person's regular face. But instead of being struck by the beauty of the portraits, he found they came off as not very ... human.
The series is called "Both Sides Of" and each set includes two photos side by side. One side a person's left half of his or her face mirrored to be perfectly symmetrical. The other is the right side being mirrored. Both images tend to be starkly different from each other.
"I would love it if it led [people] to their appreciation of character as the truest indicator of attractiveness, rather than absolute measures like symmetrical features. The less symmetrical they are initially, the more different the characters suggested by each face. The more symmetrical faces betray their owners more subtly, however, one side proves clears, the other more inward-looking," explains the photographer on his website.
Check out some sets from his series:
All Photos: Alex John Beck/Twitter
Not only does this series teach us that flaws are beautiful, but they also make us human. The photos on the right side are incredibly creepy and shed light on the ridiculous standards we hold ourselves to.
I certainly don't want to look like an alien. Do you?