Scientists studied 1,001 selfies to learn how people use them to communicate and concluded that these photos can be classified into five distinct categories: "aesthetics," "imagination," "trait," "state," and "theory of mind."
Pretty much any advertising photo of a watch and the face will almost always show the same time: 10:10. Most photographers do this to best show the company logo, but scientists have determined there was a more psychological reason to use this time.
Photographs contain "layers of mind." That's according to a new study, which found that people are considered to be "less real" and have "less mind" when they're seen in photos of photos rather than photos themselves.
Over the past decade, selfies have become a mainstay of popular culture. If the #selfie hashtag first appeared in 2004, it was the release of the iPhone 4 in 2010 that saw the pictures go viral. Three years later, the Oxford English Dictionary crowned “selfie” word of the year.
I look at hundreds of photographs everyday and I’ve noticed that how people take photos is in direct correlation to how they live their day to day lives. This may not sound like a startlingly profound fact but, put simply: your personality can create the biggest barrier to achieving interesting and unique photographs.
Contrapposto, Italian for "counterpoise", is a type of pose used since ancient times in which a person stands with most of his or her weight on one foot so the shoulders and arms twist away from the same plane as the hips and legs. It seems artists of old were onto something, as a new study has found that contrapposto posing makes people look more attractive.
If you're a single photographer looking for a romantic partner, you might want to focus more on showing off your qualities, talents, and attributes outside of your skills behind a camera. A new study has found that creativity is among the least desirable traits in a partner for both men and women.
In the past two decades, most people went from not carrying a camera to always having a smartphone camera with them at all times. With millions upon millions of photos shot (and shared) every single day, how is this explosion in photography affecting us? Here's a 10-minute video by WIRED that explores that question.
I found an image that I don't want to see. Too familiar, and so, too hurtful. But as the Internet meme jokes, "What has been seen can't be unseen." In that context, such images are considered shocking, graphic, violent. The image I refer to, however, is far removed from any of these labels. But for me, there it is, that Punctum that Barthes spoke of. As I write, Google Chrome suggests the correct spelling is 'puncture' -- how appropriate.
If you think you may have a passion for photography, try "developing" that passion instead of "finding" it. The shift in mindset could help keep you from giving up when the going gets tough.
The simple act of capturing a photo of something impairs your memory of it, even if you don't plan on keeping the photo. That's what a new psychological study has found, but the reasons behind this are still unknown.
Did you know that the worse you are at photography, the more likely it is that you think you're great at it? It's a cognitive bias in psychology called the Dunning–Kruger effect. Here's an inspiring 9-minute video by photographer Jamie Windsor on how you can avoid falling into this common mental trap and actually become a better photographer.
In his signature story-telling style, photographer Sean Tucker sits us down in this video for a 10-minute talk about handling creative envy and jealousy as a photographer or videographer. As he says, comparing yourself to other creatives can stall your career and breed resentment, and it’s important to know how to identify and check these thoughts.
People's eyes are more attracted to areas of photos that have more "meaning" than areas that "stick out." That's according to a newly published study by a team of researchers at UC Davis' Center for Mind and Brain.
I was nervous and excited. I had just left my 9 to 5 cubicle career and jumped head-first into full-time photography. Over the next 2 months, I would be traveling all over the world with a friend in order to build my portfolio. At this point, though, my sedentary lifestyle had caught up to me and I was about 25lbs overweight.
It's often said that a camera adds 10 pounds to a person being photographed. SciShow made this 2-minute video exploring reasons why cameras play tricks on our eyes when it comes to apparent weight.
One of the big arguments against taking photos is that the act distracts you from actually enjoying what you're experiencing. But a new study has found that snapping pictures actually helps people enjoy experiences more.
My name is Tavis Leaf Glover, and I’m an artist just like you, trying to create art that I can be proud of and share with the world. Though, something really hindered me in the beginning... the Rule of Thirds.
I want to shed some light on the Rule of Thirds Myths we’ve all been forcefully spoon fed during our creative infancy, which continues to linger as our compositions mature.
The next time you roll your eyes at yet another photograph of two couples embracing on social media, consider this: they are more likely to remain together than a couple who doesn’t plaster their love across the Internet.
LSU photography student Katie Joy Crawford has personally struggled with general anxiety disorder for over a decade. For her senior thesis exhibition, she chose to make her inner experience the subject of a series of self-portraits. The project is titled "My Anxious Heart."
Smartphones and social networks have made snapping and sharing photos extremely easy to do, allowing us to preserve our memories and broadcast our experiences. It's not all positive, though: there are downsides to our snap- and selfie-happy culture.
A new study has found that 58% of people believe that "posting the perfect picture has prevented them from enjoying life's experiences."
Taking artistic photographs is one of the sexiest forms of creativity -- at least that's what scientists are reporting. The activity ranked 7th on a list of most desirable qualities in a partner according to a new research paper that was published recently.
Men who share selfies online are more likely to exhibit psychopathic tendencies. That's what researchers are saying after conducting a lengthy study on the link between selfie-taking and certain personality traits.
The next time you're taking a group snapshot, cut the "cheese" and tell everyone to say "cheeks" instead. This two letter change can help create more genuine smiles on the faces in your shot.
Well known headshot photographer Peter Hurley has teamed up with respected psychologist Anna Rowley to develop a way for people to overcome their fear of being in front of a camera.
The pair call this research and application Psyphotology, a clever wordplay on psychology and photography. Their hope is to impact the world by helping us gain self-acceptance rather than focusing on criticism.
This humorous graphic was created by Lee Hutchinson over at Ars Technica in a recent article comparing the iPhone 6 Plus to a Canon DSLR. It suggests that people who are just starting out in photography commonly experience a period of delusion in which they suddenly think they are much greater at photography than they actually are.
Did you ever have a 'comfort object' as a kid? Maybe it was a security blanket, or a beloved stuffed animal that you carried around everywhere. Maybe you still have it somewhere in the attic where it's more socially acceptable now that you're an adult.
These objects meant, at least for a time, the world to us; A connection to security and safety that was, if irrational, also undeniably comforting. And it's these objects and the children who love them that make up photographer Anna Ream's recent series Comfort Objects.
Noted American photographer Arthur Tress is known for his strangely posed and articulated surrealist work. Born in November of 1940, he was merely in his twenties when one of his most poignant collections of work came to life.
A fascinating new study on the perception of profile photos reveals some very interesting (and perhaps a bit nerve-wracking) results: even the slightest of changes from one portrait to another can dramatically alter how people perceive you in that photo.
Feel a bit dry when it comes to being creative with your photography? Try taking a walk -- or, more specifically, a photo walk. A study over at Stanford has found that walking around can give you a significant boost in creativity.