Perspective distortion

Conversely, if all three lenses are used from distances such that the face fills the field, the wide-angle will be used from closer, making the nose larger compared to the rest of the photo, and the telephoto will be used from farther, making the nose smaller compared to the rest of the photo.

Compression distortion is most familiar in looking through binoculars or telescopes, as in telescopic sights, while a similar effect is seen in fixed-slit strip photography, notably a photo finish, where all capture is parallel to the capture, completely eliminating perspective (a side view).

The concept of perspective distortion has fascinated artists, architects, and scientists for centuries, evolving alongside the development of visual culture and optical theory.

Perspective distortion refers to the manipulation of visual perception through deliberate techniques that create altered or exaggerated views of objects or scenes.

This concept has not only shaped art and architecture but has also played a critical role in challenging and expanding the limits of human perception.

The roots of perspective distortion trace back to ancient civilizations, where early artists sought to represent three-dimensional objects on two-dimensional surfaces.

This approach was less about realism and more about conveying importance, with objects or figures often distorted to fit a cultural or narrative framework.

Pioneered by figures like Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti, linear perspective provided a systematic approach to creating the illusion of depth on flat surfaces.

Artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer mastered this technique, but others began experimenting with its limits.

Hans Holbein the Younger’s The Ambassadors (1533) famously employs this technique, featuring a distorted skull visible only when viewed obliquely, symbolizing the transient nature of life.

In the 20th century, perspective distortion expanded into photography and modern art, with wide-angle and telephoto lenses creating exaggerated or compressed views.

Fred Leeman’s Hidden Image: Games of Perception delves into how perspective distortion is used for “playful subversion,” encouraging viewers to question their visual assumptions and engage in the active process of interpretation.

Perspective distortion is particularly noticeable in portraits taken with wide-angle lenses at short camera-to-subject distances.

They generally give an unpleasant impression, making the nose appear too large with respect to the rest of the face, and distorting the facial expression.

Framing the same subject identically while using a moderate telephoto or long focus lens (with a narrow angle of view) flattens the image to a more flattering perspective.

Conversely, using lenses with much longer focal lengths for portraits results in more extreme flattening of facial features, which also may be objectionable to the viewer.

[2] Photographs are ordinarily viewed at a distance approximately equal to their diagonal[citation needed].

As a result of the different angle of view of each lens, the photographer moved closer to the object with each photo.

Note that the angle of view changes significantly (compare the background in each photo), and the distance between objects appears greater with each succeeding image.

In the fourth image at the lower right, taken with the widest lens, the building behind the object appears much further away than in reality.

Longer lenses magnify the subject more, apparently compressing distance and (when focused on the foreground) blurring the background because of their shallower depth of field.

Wider lenses tend to magnify distance between objects while allowing greater depth of field.

Another result of using a wide-angle lens is a greater apparent perspective distortion when the camera is not aligned perpendicularly to the subject: parallel lines converge at the same rate as with a normal lens, but converge more due to the wider total field.

Because different lenses generally require a different camera–subject distance to preserve the size of a subject, changing the angle of view can indirectly distort perspective, changing the apparent relative size of the subject and background.

The effect is especially noticeable the closer the camera is to the subject, as its amount increases the shorter the focal length is at the same field size.

One notable director that frequently employs rectilinear ultra wide angle lenses in order to achieve a distinctive signature style defined by extreme perspective distortion is Terry Gilliam.

Also Stanley Kubrick (in Paths of Glory, and Dr. Strangelove, among others) as well as Orson Welles (in The Trial, partly Orson Welles' London, segment Four Clubmen), Sam Peckinpah (in Straw Dogs), and Sidney Lumet (in The Offence) have occasionally done the same in the past, though mostly in moderation, for single shots or sequences only, while Gilliam hardly ever uses any lens longer than 14 mm, which has garnered lenses of that particular focal length the informal nickname "The Gilliam" among film-makers.

[3] Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, two French filmmakers influenced by Gilliam, adopted his typical wide-angle photography in their two most "Gilliamesque" features, Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children.

Due to the grotesque, unsettling mood effect peculiar to wide-angle lenses, films making use of such perspective distortion can often be placed in one of two categories: Grotesque and surreal satire and fantasy, also to some extent black comedy (Gilliam, Jeunet & Caro, Orson Welles, Dr. Strangelove) on the one hand, and serious, more realistic films with a particular edge for social criticism on the other, whereas social conventions, collective society, and/or the motives and acts of leaders are portrayed as grotesque and absurd, and often also feature tyrannical characters with conformist values who act out in an extremely hostile and prejudiced way towards individualism and outsiders (Paths of Glory, Straw Dogs, The Offence).

On the other end of the focal length spectre, Leni Riefenstahl used extreme telephoto lenses to compress large crowds in Triumph of the Will while the Führer Adolf Hitler is seen through normal lenses and often from a low angle to appear tall in comparison.