Seeing the Big Picture

I recently renewed my passport online. The process was very straightforward, including the option to supply a photograph taken on my phone. No trip to a photographer, no searching for a working photo booth, I just had to find a neutral background in my house where there were no harsh shadows.

When the passport arrived, my portrait reminded me of one of those faded images you see on a mid-Victorian daguerreotype. That is an observation, rather than a technical assessment, but it prompted a question. We spend a great deal of time in this newsletter discussing technologies that protect the portrait but how much attention do we give to the photograph those features protect?

My passport renewal experience is not unusual. The UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Singapore accept compliant photographs taken on a mobile phone for first passports and renewals. Finland also allows applicants to upload their own photographs, but the Finnish police discourage the practice, warning that images taken by non-professionals are often rejected because of poor lighting or distortion caused by photographing too close to the face [1].