how does a photographer's personal perspectives and preconceptions influence their presentation of their subject?

I hate having my photo taken, yet seeing myself through my partner's lens almost always makes me feel like a work of art. witchcraft? or another example of applied quantum physics in the form of the observer effect?

Canon did a fascinating experiment that drives this point home. THE LAB: DECOY tasked six different photographers with different (fabricated) back stories on the same man and given ten mins to capture the "essence" of their subject.

ranging from self-made millionaire, ex-convict, commercial fisherman, psychic, recovering alcoholic, and a lifesaver, each portrait then goes on to eerily capture the proposed identity as if that narrative were indeed the case. great demonstration of a self-fulfilling prophecy, aka the Pygmalion effect!