THE POWER OF OBSERVATION

Use Your Eyes Before You Compare Faces

by Joelle Steele

Most people do not know how to look at two photos and determine whether it is the same person in each photo. The average person is simply not that observant about the details of a face. Even when trying to compare two faces, they often fail to look closely enough to note significant differences between and among features. In addition, they don't know how little a face changes once a person becomes an adult and they mistakenly attribute structural differences between two people as being a result of the ageing process.

It isn't enough to say that someone "looks like" or "resembles" another person. That happens all the time, especially with people who are related, even when they are generations apart. What you have to look for is whether EVERY feature looks EXACTLY the same. This isn't about looking at two out of three features and saying, "Well, ya know, the mouth is all wrong, but the nose and eyes are right, so it must be Uncle Dick." Not likely. Dick's brother, perhaps.

This is just an article and not a book, so here is a brief list of some of the steps in comparing facial features of two people:

Ears. I always start with the ears whenever they are visible in a photo. If the ears don't match from one person to the other, it is NOT the same person. Period. Ears are as individual as fingerprints and were used to identify people before fingerprinting was invented. Look for how the ears line up with the features of the faces, the jaws, and how big the ears are in proportion to the heads. If possible, look at the shape and the curves and lines of the ears of each person. Also look at the lobes to see if they are attached or unattached (free), and if they are unattached, whether they hang close to the head or stick out.

Heads. Before comparing the individual facial features of two people, I always look at the size of their heads in proportion to their bodies. I also look at the shape of their heads and the size of their heads in relationship to the facial features from one person to the other. In addition, I look at the shape of their jaw lines, the height of their foreheads, the size and shape of their chins, and whether there is a cleft in their chins (which is hereditary and is caused by an actual cleft in the bone of the chin). If one person has bigger eyes or a bigger nose, or a bigger mouth in proportion to their head than does another person, they are not the same person.

Eyes. There is a lot to look at with the eyes. Among other things, there is the shape of the eyes, the shape of the lids, the size of the brow lines and the way the eyebrows grow. Look at the distance between the eyes from pupil to pupil, and how the eyes line up with the other features. Eye color cannot be accurately determined in black-and-white photos, and in antique photos that required long exposure times it is not even always possible to determine if eye color is light or dark, because the photographic process tended to make all eyes look a little on the dark side and sometimes the photo is just too small to show the irises at all. [Note: In analyzing and comparing faces, the first step is aligning and sizing the irises of the eyes.]

Noses. The human nose is very unique to each individual. The length and wide of the noses should be compared. Look to see if the noses both turn up or down at the tip, look at how the alar grooves (the creases along the nostrils) are formed and how they compare, and look at the size and proportions of the nostrils themselves. In profile views, look for the shape of the underlying cartilage that forms the bridge of the nose and that would create hooked (humped) noses, straight noses, or sloped noses. Hooks are a noticeable hereditary trait. Also, look at the septums, the divider between the nostrils, and see whether they are straight or if they protrude in each person.

Mouths. The first thing to look at with mouths are the length and shape of the philtrums. The philtrum is that little dip that runs starting from just above the mouth where the two points of the upper lip are and ends at the base of the nostrils. Look at the sharpness of the lips at the start of the philtrum. Look at the depths of the philtrums. Look at the fissures of the mouths, the line where the two lips meet. Look at the proportions of the upper lips to the lower lips. Look at the height and width of the mouths.

Distinguishing Marks. Sometimes these are helpful, but at other times they are not as reliable and can just confuse matters. There are two reasons for this. First, not all marks are present on a person for their entire life. An individual may develop a mole in their 40s that they did not have previously. A scar that is highly visible when a person is 25 may have faded so much by the time they are 50 that it is no longer visible. Second, different photographic processes may render marks differently. A mole or other mark may be much darker and more noticeable in a high-contrast Daguerreotype portrait, and may be much lighter or almost invisible in a low-contrast tintype taken ten years later. All that said, photographers often used make-up to cover these facial flaws, usually at the request of the sitter.

Authenticating the identities of faces in photographs calls for a fair amount of knowledge and experience, along with that good eye for detail. Visit your library and read online about facial analysis, fashion, and antique photography to expand your knowledge, and then brush up your observation skills as you become a detective and analyze and compare your own family photos.