Creating a composite portrait: comparison of two methods

Abstract

Introduction. A valuable source of anthropological information is the so-called composite portrait, which creates an idea of the «average» type of a particular population group. A composite portrait is a kind of cognitive tool that allows the visualization of the integral morphological characteristics of the variability of the face and elements of appearance. This article is devoted to a comparative analysis of two methods of creating composite photographic portraits.

Materials and methods. The material for the study was photographs of Santal women (N=64), from which composite portraits were generated in two different ways: 1) using two fixed points in Adobe Photoshop; 2) by three points in the faceONface computer program, developed specifically for creating generalized portraits.

Results and discussion. In a composite photograph obtained by the classical method of F. Galton by combining photographs at two pupillary points, the upper half of the face is recorded more clearly in the eye area, but the lower tier of the face remains fuzzy and blurry. When using the third, oral point, we get a clearer picture in the mouth area without losing clarity in the eye area. At the same time, constructing a composite portrait using two fixed points creates an image that reflects the entire range of variability in facial height in the population, and when using three points, facial height is averaged.

Conclusion. Unlike a composite portrait obtained by the classical method, combining photographs at three points gives a more attractive image, but at the same time we lose the opportunity to capture the large range of variability in facial height. However, both portrait fusion methods create a developed model that can be used by researchers, museum staff, forensic scientists among others. © 2025. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license

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