An object of the present invention is to ensure that facial images can be recognized easily and accurately. A image pickup apparatus photographs the face of a user and outputs pixel values substantially proportionate to the logarithm of the amount of incident light. A difference image calculating unit calculates a difference image from the difference in pixel values between a first image in which the face of the user is photographed by the image pickup apparatus while a lighting apparatus does not illuminate the face of the user with light, and a second image in which the face of the user is photographed by the image pickup apparatus while the lighting apparatus does illuminate the face of the user with light. A facial area extracting unit extracts the areas of the face of the user in the difference image, and determines which way the user is facing, and a facial organ extracting unit extracts the organs of the face of the user. The present invention can be applied, for example, to an image processing apparatus that processes facial images.