By Pina Di Cola
I have always been fascinated by the common reaction of people saying “I’m not photogenic” when seeing photos of themselves. Even some celebrities I have photographed say this. This motivated me to look deep into the images and how we see ourselves.
How many of us turn away from the mirror, or from a snapshot of us, thinking, “That’s not me.” The truth is, we are right. Due to the human brain’s neurological processes, the one face our human mind is incapable of seeing is our own. And yet, it’s important that we do see ourselves as we truly are.
You Are Photogenic contains unique information that I have gathered through both experience and extensive research. My career as an international celebrity photographer allowed me to have a view into human nature through the magnifying lens of the camera.
You Are Photogenic is about overcoming the preconceived notions of the self-image, solving a problem that we are all likely to experience in our lifetimes. It is about gaining self-knowledge by observing what you look like – an idea that seems simple enough and yet little information is available and few researchers have explored it. My research indicates that because of the way the brain and neurological systems function, you are unable to see your face and body in their totality; therefore, if you rely only on your reflection in the mirror, you don’t know what you really look like.
My book explores in depth the physics of our visual system with graphs and photographs, addresses the importance of how other people see us and how emotions and facial expressions form our own beauty. I include the answer to why we say we are not photogenic. The importance is to know what we look like through our photo-image.
Now as never before in history, our need to explore the pivotal issue of how we see ourselves and understanding what we look like has become very important. This is the reason that we are witnessing the explosion of the phenomenal trend called the “selfie.” Unfortunately the selfie doesn’t provide the answer to our visual need for understanding ourselves; instead it creates more confusion in terms of how we look and how other people look at us.
I believe that I have discovered a breakthrough in self-image: the theory of the Photo-Image. Pairing my 30 years of experience as a celebrity photographer with in-depth research in the fields of neurology, psychology, and sociology, I learned how essential truly seeing ourselves is to living a full life.
What is a Photo-Image? It’s a photograph of your image that reflects your awareness of your total self. Because we base our idea of who we are and how we see ourselves on how others see us paired with the reflection we see in the mirror, our self-image is constantly being constructed from subjective, external impressions. These impressions influence our concept of who we are. This lack of real imagery creates a lack of self-knowledge that can distort our impression of who we are.
To know ourselves, we must first see ourselves. Your Photo-Image will help you to become certain of who you are and will motivate you to achieve the best for yourself.
Pina Di Cola is author of “You Are Photogenic,” CreateSpace; $26.99, color; $14.24, black and white; paperback; $8.99, Kindle and LuLu ebooks. For more information, visit www.pinadicola.com.
