The Face

Faye Bound-Alberti's 'The Face: A Cultural History' examines how the human face came to be seen as the primary index of identity and moral character, tracing representations from classical portraiture through mirrors, makeup and cosmetic surgery to modern technologies like facial recognition.

The book situates ideas of beauty, physiognomy and symmetry within changing social, artistic and technological contexts, showing how longstanding biases are repackaged across eras.

Bound-Alberti discusses the social consequences of face-based judgments, including impacts on self-esteem, medical interventions such as face transplants, and algorithmic misrecognition.

She combines historical narrative with contemporary examples to argue for more critical debate about how the face is used to evaluate and regulate people.

The book urges reconsideration of face-centered assumptions and calls for accountability in the industries and technologies that profit from and entrench them.