Portraits can focus on single face or face and shoulders or can show a whole person or group of people in a landscape. What makes a portrait is the "identifiable representation or likeness of an individual," according to the Oxford Companion to the Body. A portrait, in paint, pencil, chalks or photography, often represents an idea or a specific characteristic of a person, more than a simple replica of the subject.
Some photographers, such as Julian Wolkenstein, have played around with portraits and symmetry to create final products that show perfectly symmetrical faces through image manipulation. The aim of such an exercise is to determine if a symmetrical portrait displays a higher degree of aesthetics and beauty. Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, this topic leaves room for interpretation. Even though we do not understand the cause for it, research shows that humans, including infants, find a symmetrical portrait more attractive.
According to The Oxford Companion to the Body, biological symmetry is "exhibiting external bilateral symmetry about a vertical midline." As a whole, our organs, our skeleton, our muscle structure and our reproductive organs are all replicated on either side of our body. It is believed that our biological symmetry provides humans with an evolutionary advantage over other species, although at closer inspection, not one individual is perfectly symmetrical.
A symmetrical portrait is a representation of a person and its characteristics in a way that show both sides of the human figure as identical. Because a portrait is an image, rather than the actual person, it is possible for an artist to create a final product that showcases an image with perfect symmetry.