Image processing device and image processing method, and imaging device

An image processing method comprising

• a face area extraction step for extracting a face area from an image of a person;
• a detection step for detecting the contour of the face of said person from the face area extracted by said face area extraction step;
• a face classification step for classifying the shape of the face of said person, based on the contour of the face of said person as detected by said detection step;
• and
• an image correcting step for correcting the contour of said face of said person based on the type of the face shape of said person.

An imaging apparatus comprising

• imaging means for imaging a person;
• face area extraction means for extracting a face area from an image of a person imaged by said imaging means;
• detection means for detecting the contour of the face of said person from the face area extracted by said face area extraction means;
• face classification means for classifying the shape of the face of said person based on the contour of the face of said person detected by said detection means;
• and
• image correction means for correcting the contour of said face of said person based on the type of the face of said face classified by said face classification means.