Beauty and aesthetics

Photo of a woman in a colourful striped dress smiling as photographers take pictures at a crowded event.

Why do beautiful people also seem smart and likeable?

Psychologists have known about the ‘halo effect’ for ages. New research suggests the power of language can help explain it

by Chris F Westbury & Daniel King

A waterfall under a stormy sky with mist and a building on the left cliff surrounded by trees in the background.

How to think about the sublime

An exquisite mix of fear and awe, pleasure and pain, the sublime stretches the imagination and reveals the limits of reason

by Nicole A Hall

Painting of lilac flowers with green leaves on a dark background. The flowers vary in shades of purple, pink, and white.

‘Nothing renders their beauty’ – can art ever capture the splendour of a flower?

A film by Miléna Trivier

Photo of a person singing into a microphone on stage, wearing hoop earrings and a textured top, with a spotlight in the background.

Could that tingle down the spine be a way to rediscover joy?

In new research, scientists have looked into the potential benefits of giving people with depression the aesthetic chills

by Shayla Love

Photo of two people partially obscured, with sunlight streaming through a window behind them and a thumb in the foreground.

How to take better photos

Anyone can learn the principles that are essential to capturing quality images. Follow these tips and see the difference

by Paul Pope

Person in a hat with feathers admires a colourful painting in a gallery.

Why art seems more beautiful when you can see yourself in it

Research suggests that people find artworks more aesthetically pleasing when they’re personally relevant to them in some way

by Matt Huston

Close-up photo of a woman with closed eyes smelling a small branch with pink flowers held in her hand.

What is the secret to an evocative smell description?

Many languages have very few odour-related words, so conveying what a scent is like requires knowing your audience

by Giulia Martina

A black and white image of a girl in a white dress dancing behind her younger brother in a wheelchair, with trees and a road in the background. They are both smiling.

‘I’ll always err on the side of beauty’ – a mother’s cinematic ode to her son

Directed by Kelly O’Brien

A painting of a man and woman holding hands indoors with a small dog at their feet. The room is richly decorated.

To master the art of close looking, learn to hold time still

Visual literacy is a skillset that’s rarely taught, but it begins with learning how to look – and how to hold time still

by Grace Linden

Abstract painting with bold red, blue and yellow shapes on a textured dark background.

Is the attunement of abstract art and music more than a metaphor?

How does the abstract art of Kandinsky and Klee imitate the meaning and emotion in the music of Shostakovich and Bach?

by Michelle Liu

Photo of an ornate underground station with arched ceilings, mosaic details pedestrians and a yellow train on the platform.

How to appreciate buildings

It’s easy to become blasé about the built world. Tune in more deeply and architectural adventures await around each corner

by Colin Ellard

Photo of a man admiring a large stained glass artwork with vibrant blue and yellow hues depicting various figures and animals.

Beauty is not an ornament to the good life, it is at its heart

Why does the hand want to draw what the eye sees as beautiful? Why do we respond to beauty by creating the beautiful?

by Nick Riggle

Photo of a vintage recording studio with a mannequin holding a microphone seen through a glass window from the control room.
MUSIC

They’re playing our song! The philosophical puzzle of cover songs

Can a song be both the original and a copy? Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, and the ‘crazy’ philosophical puzzle of song covers

by P D Magnus

Two people view a famous painting in a gallery; it’s the Mona Lisa in an ornate frame.

What happens if we make the Mona Lisa more symmetrical?

The Golden Ratio and symmetry are two universal rules of beauty. The problem is they conflict with one another

by Manil Suri

Black-and-white photo of a pensive woman in a herringbone coat and cloche hat, holding a handkerchief to her lips.

Dietrich showed how adopting a persona can reveal one’s true self

Kaloprosopia – the art of crafting a persona, as Marlene Dietrich and David Bowie did – can help us access a truer self

by Sam Mills

Person walking on a rocky landscape under a cloudy sky, carrying a backpack and a tool or instrument over their shoulder.

The quiet exuberance of wintering alone on an empty island off New England

Directed by Brian Bolster