Take a quick look at a photo of Lauren Boebert and ask yourself one simple question: are you seeing reality, or are you seeing what the camera makes you think you’re seeing? Viral posts often rely on a single dramatic image to tell a much bigger story, but photos can be misleading.

Boebert, like many public figures, is frequently photographed at hearings, meetings, and public events, which means there are countless pictures of her from different angles and distances. The frame of a photo can make someone appear larger or smaller depending on how tightly the image is cropped. Camera lenses also matter—wide-angle lenses, common on phones, can exaggerate the size of anything closest to the camera. Timing plays a role too: a single frozen moment while someone is talking or turning can create shapes and angles that don’t represent how they normally look. Clothing, lighting, and background objects—like desks, microphones, or people standing nearby—also change how our brains judge size and proportion.