The expression 'bad profile' is so ingrained in our language that we do not reflect on its implications. Who hasn't asked that they not take the photo because they need to change their posture so that they capture their best profile? To celebrate the new year, singer Mariah Carey uploaded an image to Instagram with this phrase: “New year, new beginnings, taking a photo from my 'bad profile'.” The gesture symbolizes the willingness to embrace those parts of ourselves that we do not approve of. Is that of the American singer and actress a vindictive and empowering act capable of increasing self-esteem?
Carey's image does not remain an anecdote: is there really a good profile when it comes to posing? What does it depend on? A profile is a symbol of power and strength. When we portray ourselves from that perspective, we capture the bone structure, which gives us character. A profile is categorical and exudes personality because it highlights the features and sublimates the expressions. Coming up through what we call a bad profile should be mandatory. I propose to photograph that outline again and again as shock therapy.
Italians in the 15th century were very aware of the individuality that profile portraits gave. It was very important that the nobleman could be immediately recognized and that the composition denoted power: hence, many canvases were based on Roman coins with the effigy (in profile) of the emperors. Artists like Piero della Francesca start from bronze medals to portray the nobility, as in the case of Sigismondo Malatesta (the starting point was the bronze medal that Pisanello made for Malatesta in 1445). In the Italian courts of the 15th century, the profile portrait signifies the majesty and power of the prince, because it is related to the numismatic art of imperial Rome. The Marquis of Ferrara, for example, loved to see the faces of Roman emperors on the coins and medals in his collection.
A profile is categorical and exudes personality because it highlights the features and sublimates the expressions.
Regarding whether or not there is a better profile than another, we must keep in mind that we are not symmetrical beings. As German artist Ivonne Thein demonstrated when she folded the sides of several models' faces as if they were a mirror, if we were, the effect would be strange, almost alien. Since they are not symmetrical, it may happen that one side of the face has more canonical features. But, be careful, canonical does not mean beautiful. What has been beautiful in one era, has not been beautiful in the next. Fortunately, the canon is expanding more and more every day, so is it worth obsessing over our good profile?
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“The issue of a good profile is overrated, I don't ask them about it. In my opinion, the piercings, wounds or pimples characterize. That, yes, I play with the light – against it, and the height of the main light – to get a good silhouette. I use a lot of Rembrandt light or butterfly light under the nose, and in profile portraits of women I avoid harsh shadows and use soft lights,” says photographer Robertogato. The artist Jesús Ubera prefers not to talk about a good or bad profile: “Each expression of each person requires a different angle. I like to look for what is most characteristic of the person to be photographed and locate what makes them special. I search and search until I differentiate it from the rest. The essential thing is that the person portrayed feels great and that he or she multiplies with what I propose.”
The TikTok videos of bad side profile (bad profile) abound. A few months ago, several tiktokers They uploaded images of their these types of photos comparing and measuring the nose. A search on this social network about side profile, yields some worrying results. Hannah superimposes an audio of a boy explaining why he wants to leave the relationship, with a profile photo of him where he retouches his nose with an app. The video is accompanied by the caption “they break up with me and I fantasize about a rhinoplasty.” Fortunately, other tiktokers like Star Abelar encourage us to be more confident and accept our traits. Videos abound under the slogan in English ““all big noses are beautiful”, all big noses are beautiful.
The profile portrait and the obsession with achieving ideal geometric dimensions has historical roots. Leonardo da Vinci left us profile drawings with guidelines. He inscribed a head in a circle and established the hairline on the forehead as the ideal center, and the nose and the edge of the ear as two other points of the circle. He also reflected on canonical proportions by relating parts of the face to each other in other profile drawings. The painter wrote the ideal measurements on The vitruvian man: “The distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose and from the hairline to the eyebrows is, in each case, the same and, like the ear, [equivale a] a third part of the face.”
“It's super subjective. Many clients consider that their good side is exactly what I consider to be less harmonious. It is seen, above all, in more asymmetrical faces. That is, in those whose right side is very far from the left and, with these differences, the good or bad side depends on taste,” says David Deibis, official makeup artist at Perricone MD. He recommends getting a selfie, on the side for which we are most favored. I encourage the opposite: to make ourselves selfies for which we consider the bad side, until we end up seeing it as good.
Be that as it may, we can play with makeup to have fun or to create optical effects. If you are obsessed with one eye because it looks too small, you can enlarge it with mascara. “I take the inner ones towards the eyebrow, the central ones up and the outer ones, towards the temple. Thus, we open our gaze and we can work more on that eye that is a little more closed to balance them,” proposes Deibis. For a septum that tends to tilt, the makeup artist opts for the contouring. “Dark brown tones are applied in the areas that we want to hide more, and with a light highlighter or concealer in those that we want to highlight. The normal thing is to reserve the dark ones for the fins and the light ones, for the septum.”
Another tool that we have been playing with since ancient times is hair. “We can provide volume to the face: hide a wide forehead with straight or curtain-type bangs, or a prominent chin with a cut swept towards the face,” suggests hairstylist María Baras, from the Cheska Salon. However, Deibis proposes: “Embrace that inequality because sometimes I see more beauty in what people believe is their bad side. We have to work more on self-esteem.” That is, let's use makeup to play and have fun. “Belief in good and bad sides can be used to explore and experiment with our image. Makeup allows us to transform those characteristics with which we do not feel so comfortable. I believe that each side of the face tells a unique story, and photography is a perfect way to tell it,” says Vera Hernández, makeup artist at Corazona Beauty.
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