Face-ism Ratio

Referenced in Designing for Emotion by Aaron Walter, the face-ism ratio design principle states that photographs cropped tight to the subject's face encourage an emotional response from the viewer, while emphasizing the personality of the subject. Wider subject cropping emphasizes the physical appearance of the subject.

Walter then goes on to use the example of the Housing Works nonprofit website as an example where cropping closer to the subject's face enhanced our tendency to empathize with them.