So yesterday I was reading an online article. (“omg really? That’s fascinating” “stfu, hypothetical reader, I’m not done yet”) The author of the article was making a point I disagreed with, so I was reading it with a critical eye, trying to figure out whether he was wrong, or I was. I wasn’t terribly convinced with his arguments, but his name seemed vaguely familiar (like a guy famous enough I should know him, but not famous enough I did know him) and the article came highly recommended, so I was giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Then I googled him and found his picture on Wikipedia, and he was, well, just a regular dude. Not ugly or anything, but kind of a goofy grin, sort of a funny mustache. An ordinary person.
And suddenly I lost all interest in analyzing his argument further. I stopped trying to find ways he might be right, became much more satisfied with my own counterarguments, and moved on.
This happens to me a lot: my perspective on someone’s writing changes after I see their picture. Why? I think it’s because text without a face seems somehow authoritative, powerful because of its anonymity (even if you know the author’s name). Once you see his picture, it’s like, hey, this is just some dude. Dudes are wrong all the time. I mean, I’ve met dudes, and honestly? Not that impressed. (By “dudes” I’m not excluding women, here; damn English and its dearth of gender-neutral words, etc.)
There are two ways to look at this phenomenon. First way: if you don’t see an author’s face, you judge the writing solely on its merits. Your critical reaction isn’t tainted by any unconscious bias you might have against the author’s physical appearance, which is irrelevant to the text. In other words, my shift in perspective after viewing the photo is bad, and I should try to fight it.
But there’s a second way to look at it. I think that words without a human context – black text on a white background – have a kind of seductive power. If I say something out loud, it’s just me talking; but if I write it down, suddenly it has the same form and appearance as the words of the Bible, of Socrates, of Shakespeare and Tolstoy and Tolkien and whoever your favorite author happens to be. For me, written words cast a kind of spell, and seeing the author’s face breaks the spell, reminds me that this is just a human being like anybody else. In other words, my shift in perspective is a good thing.
I’m honestly not sure which is true – whether I’m a more objective reader before seeing an author photo, or after. I also have no idea whether the same thing happens to other people when they read, or not.
But, uh, you’ll notice I don’t have a photo of myself on the blog.
You tell me – does seeing a picture (or video) of an author affect the way you read?
Brian D. Buckley 
I can see what you’re saying. Thinking about it I’ve realize that, for me, authors become a sort of character as I read their text and I have an idea about what he or she looks like. If I happen to see a picture my response is usually “Really? They totally didn’t look like that in my head!”
Definitely. Only exception is Tolstoy: you read War and Peace, you’re going to think, dude has got some serious beard on him. And guess what? You would be right.
Well, you did post one photo of yourself on the blog – and if you google Brian D Buckley, it comes up on page 2 of google images. Nope, not sure I would read anything from that little guy….ha!
Hahahahaha!! I was like, what picture is she talking about? And then I remembered…
This is especially true of romance writers. They tend to be old and unattractive (and married) which is never how the characters they write are.
Makes me much more aware that they are writing to a specific audience and makes me not want to read them as much.
Makes sense though – who better to write about romance than someone who’s been through a lot of relationships?
I’m sure I jump to conclusions about people all the time when I see them, in a host of contexts. Yet oddly, authors’ pictures never impact me, when it comes to my perception of their writings. Maybe that’s because I don’t imagine the author reading to me, when I crack open a good book. That’s true for fiction, at least.
Now, if a 4′ tall, bald hunchback, with bad teeth and massive acne, writes “The Dummy’s Guide to Picking up Chicks,” I might revise my opinion of his expertise, after seeing his photo.
Yeah, I think it’s less true for fiction for me, too. Not sure exactly why that is…
I recently became obsessed with Jasper Fforde.
I became increasingly convinced that he was writing novels that I had been planning to write.
So I googled him to see if he looked like me only older because that was starting to seem likely.
Turns out he looks like Hugh Laurie would if he was also an adventuring archeologist.
Which, sad to say, is not what I look like.
Last I recall you look like Galactus with his hair on fire.
(Please Don’t Smite Me)
Hah, man, I haven’t smitten anyone in a long while! Them’s good times, right there. *pictures a combustible Galactus*
Mr. Fforde, though, he’s getting awfully ambitious with those F’s…I hope he brought enough to share with everyone.