Fat Girl Angle Shots

[LovelyLiz]

i wear clothes that flatter my shape, does that mean i dont find my shape beautiful?

i wear colors that flatter my skin tone, does that mean i am ashamed of being black.

i post pictures that are flattering. i dont know what that would mean in the context of this thread.

then again i am photogenic, so all my pictures are flattering tee hee

I understand your point - but what I'm saying is, what you consider flattering is not what everyone would consider flattering. It is subjective. What I want to know is, in terms of face photographs, why do we consider certain angles "flattering" and certain angles "not flattering"? I want to get down to specifics.

When you talk about clothes that "flatter your shape" or colors that "flatter your skin tone" that is based on assumptions that you hold about what looks good/beautiful/etc. I'm not at all saying you are ashamed, just that our choices to choose certain pics as "flattering" and others as "not flattering" is saying SOMETHING about what we believe about beauty, etc. So I just want more specifics on what that something is.

 

[verucassault]

well i think that "something" would be different for each person, correct?

so i think the right answer is , people who use angles to disguise their chins, dont find displaying them flattering which mean they dont think they are beautiful, which then would mean, we take away their happy fat cards i kid

i dont really buy that being proud of being fat and accepting of who you are, does not mean a person is not permitted to find some flaws in themselves and or want to somehow accentuate features that they are more comfortable with.

for instance, i love my body, i dont however enjoy how when i wear a belt outside my shirt, the back of it gets lost in the rolls between my back fat and my bum or if its wider it buckles underneath the weight of my fat rolls. if someone took a picture of that, i would be mortified, I mean I get it, I am fat, but i just dont like the appearance of the disapearing belt. I would not go on facebook and tag my back roll while it mocked my attempt at being fashionable.

 

[LovelyLiz]

well i think that "something" would be different for each person, correct?

Yep. That's why I started the thread - to learn more about what that "something" is for everybody. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

[mszwebs]

I understand your point - but what I'm saying is, what you consider flattering is not what everyone would consider flattering. It is subjective. What I want to know is, in terms of face photographs, why do we consider certain angles "flattering" and certain angles "not flattering"? I want to get down to specifics.

When you talk about clothes that "flatter your shape" or colors that "flatter your skin tone" that is based on assumptions that you hold about what looks good/beautiful/etc. I'm not at all saying you are ashamed, just that our choices to choose certain pics as "flattering" and others as "not flattering" is saying SOMETHING about what we believe about beauty, etc. So I just want more specifics on what that something is.

It's not any different at all.

Who says A-line looks better on me than a Mermaid dress?

More than probably, ME...and since I'm the one looking at pics of myself before I post them online, I'm the one I'm trying to please. If that comes from a FGA or a straight on shot, I'm following no one's standard of beauty but my own.

 

[lovelocs]

You know what gets me? It isn't the double chin, its the way my eyes disappear whenever I smile, and so I hate pictures that are all chubby cheeks and no eyeballs. Plus, everyone says that I only have two looks in pictures-the scowl or the smile. I can't win.

Actually, you can win. This is going to sound disgustingly 1950's pageant queen, but practice smiling in a mirror. It helps. I have big cheeks, too, and I'm even starting to get the crease in between my eyes from the forehead fat. I took a few pics with "eye slits" and hated it. I practiced smiling (softly) with my mouth, and opening my eyes a little bit wider. It worked. Of course, this is only for posed pictures. A candid may find me looking any old way, but it's better than it was...

 

[Gingembre]

I likes the FGA because I hate my double chin and because, in face-on shots, my eyes often seem obscured by the frame of my glasses, because of the way they slip down my nose a bit. It's not just a fatty thing though - whenever i'm out with my friends (who are mosty thin) and we're taking pics, everyone will always shriek "take it from above" or "myspace angle!" if a camera is whipped out at a less flattering angle!

 

[Keb]

I like the downward angle shots because I think they make me look prettier, and I think they make me look more feminine. I don't do it consciously to avoid looking fat (I don't think I have a prayer there anyway), but if you look at historic film techniques, women in closeups were often shot from overhead. It made them look shorter/smaller, and therefore more feminine (and was a good way to make the men look taller/stronger by comparison, since the gentleman would be filmed going the opposite way). I got the idea to do some pictures that way from reading about that--not from anything to do with making myself slimmer or to decieve anyone. I really liked the pictures that resulted, so I've used the technique since then.

Why do we have to make ourselves feel guilty for liking how we look in some pictures better than others?

 

[Saoirse]

Why do we have to make ourselves feel guilty for liking how we look in some pictures better than others?

we dont!

...

 

[Shosh]

View attachment Up.jpg

There ya go! Fat girl angle.

 

[Surlysomething]

I have awful chin hair and really bad, sensitive skin. My battles with it have left me with terrible scars that I'm embarassed about. I do a lot of fat girl angles but I will sometimes slip in a regular photo if there's enough shadow to camoflage the scarring.



​

I'm very conscious of my skin problems as well. You would think that at almost 40 years old the acne train would have left. Apparently not.

 

[LovelyLiz]

Why do we have to make ourselves feel guilty for liking how we look in some pictures better than others?

we dont!

...

I agree! Guilt is never productive anyway.

 

[Lovelyone]

speaking of FGA--I recently had to renew my driver's license. When the time came to take the pic I tried every which way til Tuesday to get the double chin effect out of the picture. Unfortunately the table that that camera was on was really low and the camera was actually sitting lower than I was standing, so I had to look DOWN for them to take the pic (odd cos I am only 5'6). The end result came in the mail today. I get to look at my double chin plus...for the next six years. hehhe

 

[indy500tchr]

I've heard it referred to as "duck-face". So appropriate....although when I see stupid little girls twisting up their faces like that, ducks are not usually the first thought in my head (which is usually like "Really? Good lord that person looks stupid").

I really don't see why girls think that this face is attractive. I even see this face made by several women on here too. I just don't get it. It is NOT sexy at all. Just smile dammit!

 

[GTAFA]

Somewhere out in the internet world recently I ran across the term "fat girl angle" (FGA) to describe a picture taken from above, with the person looking up at the camera. It's this specific type of photo that is supposed to make fat women appear slimmer (because it disguises double chins, etc.) -and it's a derogatory term, because it's supposedly this deceptive tool that women use to lure in men that may not actually like them at their actual level of fatness.....So, what's up with that? If you use the FGA in pics of yourself, why do you? If not, why not? If you're not a fat woman, what do you think of that type of picture of a fat woman (the FGA) - is it more attractive, less attractive, just another angle?

Um so if a guy uses it to um conceal his um weaknesses :blush: is it still called an FGA?

 

[LovelyLiz]

Um so if a guy uses it to um conceal his um weaknesses :blush: is it still called an FGA?

Post a pic and I'll give you a name for it.

 

[Shosh]

I'm very conscious of my skin problems as well. You would think that at almost 40 years old the acne train would have left. Apparently not.

Certain birth control pills can work wonders in clearing acne.

I think Yasmin in particular.

 

[butch]

Actually, you can win. This is going to sound disgustingly 1950's pageant queen, but practice smiling in a mirror. It helps. I have big cheeks, too, and I'm even starting to get the crease in between my eyes from the forehead fat. I took a few pics with "eye slits" and hated it. I practiced smiling (softly) with my mouth, and opening my eyes a little bit wider. It worked. Of course, this is only for posed pictures. A candid may find me looking any old way, but it's better than it was...

Thanks for the advice, lovelocs. I may have to do this in the morning as I'm looking in the mirror to wash my face and brush my teeth.

However, at this age, I've learned to be 'OK' with less than pleasant pictures of me. They happen often, and I remind myself that the pictures I don't care for are pictures my friends and family will look at and just see 'me,' and not see 'me who smiles like an eyeless twat' or 'me who looks like they're plotting to cut your heart out with a rusty spoon.' Thank god, since I am often thinking about ripping people's hearts out with rusty sporks.

 

[Rosebud]

For your amusement: Stop Making That Duckface

I assumed that "duckface" implied the subject looking up into the camera, like what you would see if any smaller thing looked up at you. Little did I know that "duckface" meant turning your lips into a bill. It shocks me that those people (and, damn you Ornoth, I looked at way too many pages thinking I would eventually get to the end. Now I'll have nightmares) can look at themselves and think that face is sexy.

I imagine they are shocked to think I feel pretty when they see pictures of me all fat and pale and smiling.

Ok, the point of my post: I think there is a huge difference between duckface and FGA. I would post examples of normal, FGA, and duckface, but I don't think I can make my lips do that.

 

[AnnMarie]

I'm so glad to know there's a name for duckface. Yay!

There are women who, apparently, make money off of duckface.


Color me confused.

 

[LovelyLiz]

Thanks for the advice, lovelocs. I may have to do this in the morning as I'm looking in the mirror to wash my face and brush my teeth.

However, at this age, I've learned to be 'OK' with less than pleasant pictures of me. They happen often, and I remind myself that the pictures I don't care for are pictures my friends and family will look at and just see 'me,' and not see 'me who smiles like an eyeless twat' or 'me who looks like they're plotting to cut your heart out with a rusty spoon.' Thank god, since I am often thinking about ripping people's hearts out with rusty sporks.

YES YES YES. This is something that is helpful for me to keep in mind, too. People who love me and spend a lot of time with me see me from all those kinds of "unflattering" angles I hate all the freaking time, and yet they don't find it to be a big deal, and still think I'm attractive in my way, etc etc etc. Good word, Butch.