Isn't that two separate issues? The face distortion is due to the way it's spread over the frame (compared to how we expect to see it - you can get the same effect by eye if you pay attention to what you're actually seeing), while the meeting spires is more to do with the sensor plane not being vertical - you point it up at the church and that causes distortion.
That's why view cameras can correct for it: you can set the back parallel to the subject and use the front movement to get the framing you want:
From Ansel Adam's The Camera.
The face distortion is about distance and as you say you can see it if you get near the subject's nostrils :-)
But for a given distance, a tele shot and a wide angle shot will generate the same perspective deformation if you superpose the two pictures (blowing one up or shrinking the other)... "What can I do, What can I write, Against the fall of Night". A.E. Housman
I just came back from a sudden trip from Finland; have I missed much? You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes. --More--
