diff --git a/common/messages/de.json b/common/messages/de.json
index 01646240..a4e56494 100644
--- a/common/messages/de.json
+++ b/common/messages/de.json
@@ -871,6 +871,7 @@
   "profile.comments.update_error": "Aktualisierung der Empfehlungseinstellungen fehlgeschlagen",
   "profile.connect.direct_messaging_disabled": "{user} hat Direktnachrichten deaktiviert",
   "profile.connect.how_this_works": "Wie es funktioniert",
+  "profile.connect.message_name": "{name} schreiben",
   "profile.connect.interest_indicators_disabled": "{user} hat Interessenssignale deaktiviert",
   "profile.connect.load_preferences_failed": "Fehler beim Laden der Einstellungen",
   "profile.connect.mutual": "Gegenseitig",
@@ -1215,6 +1216,8 @@
   "profile.optional.want_kids": "Ich möchte Kinder haben",
   "profile.optional.work": "Arbeit",
   "profile.personality": "Persönlichkeit",
+  "profile.photos": "Fotos",
+  "profile.photos.scroll_sideways": "Seitwärts scrollen",
   "profile.orientation": "Orientierung",
   "profile.orientation.aceflux": "Aceflux",
   "profile.orientation.akioromantic": "Akioromantisch",
diff --git a/common/messages/fr.json b/common/messages/fr.json
index 1a0e9f98..52428752 100644
--- a/common/messages/fr.json
+++ b/common/messages/fr.json
@@ -870,6 +870,7 @@
   "profile.comments.update_error": "Échec de la mise à jour des paramètres de recommandation",
   "profile.connect.direct_messaging_disabled": "{user} a désactivé la messagerie directe",
   "profile.connect.how_this_works": "Comment ça fonctionne",
+  "profile.connect.message_name": "Écrire à {name}",
   "profile.connect.interest_indicators_disabled": "{user} a désactivé les indicateurs d'intérêt",
   "profile.connect.load_preferences_failed": "Échec du chargement des préférences",
   "profile.connect.mutual": "Mutuel",
@@ -1214,6 +1215,8 @@
   "profile.optional.want_kids": "Je souhaite avoir des enfants",
   "profile.optional.work": "Domaine de travail",
   "profile.personality": "Personnalité",
+  "profile.photos": "Photos",
+  "profile.photos.scroll_sideways": "Faire défiler",
   "profile.orientation": "Orientation",
   "profile.orientation.aceflux": "Aceflux",
   "profile.orientation.akioromantic": "Akioromantique",
diff --git a/tests/e2e/utils/seed-showcase.ts b/tests/e2e/utils/seed-showcase.ts
index d63dd350..cc942dd4 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/utils/seed-showcase.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/utils/seed-showcase.ts
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ const DEFAULT_AVATAR = '/images/default-avatar.png'
  * Missing portraits are not fatal: the profile still seeds, it just wears the default avatar.
  *
  * `pinned_url` and `photo_urls` are disjoint: the pinned photo must NOT also appear in `photo_urls`.
- * `ProfileGallery` renders `buildArray(pinned_url, photo_urls)` without deduping, so a shared entry
+ * `useProfilePhotos` renders `buildArray(pinned_url, photo_urls)` without deduping, so a shared entry
  * shows up twice. (The photo editor wraps the same call in `uniq`, which masks it while editing.)
  */
 function resolvePhotos(profile: ShowcaseProfile) {
diff --git a/web/components/profile-about.tsx b/web/components/profile-about.tsx
index 596dcb89..a98beac5 100644
--- a/web/components/profile-about.tsx
+++ b/web/components/profile-about.tsx
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import {Col} from 'web/components/layout/col'
 import {CustomLink} from 'web/components/links'
 import {UserHandles} from 'web/components/user/user-handles'
 import {useChoicesContext} from 'web/hooks/use-choices'
+import {useMeasurementSystem} from 'web/hooks/use-measurement-system'
 import {useLocale, useT} from 'web/lib/locale'
 import {getSeekingConnectionText} from 'web/lib/profile/seeking'
 import {convertRace} from 'web/lib/util/convert-types'
@@ -64,7 +65,9 @@ export default function ProfileAbout(props: {
           5. Languages — practical.
           6. Identity nuance — gender and orientation only render when the member wrote something of
              their own about them, so they are elaboration, not a demographic checkbox to scan.
-          7. Background, then activity metadata. */}
+          7. Background, then height, then activity metadata. Height sits down here rather than in
+             the hero line: it is a number people filter on, not part of how anyone introduces
+             themselves, and beside the name it was taking the weight of one. */}
       {!omitConnectionGoals && <SeekingAndRelationship profile={profile} />}
       <OccupationAndWork profile={profile} />
       <Education profile={profile} />
@@ -81,6 +84,7 @@ export default function ProfileAbout(props: {
       <Orientation profile={profile} />
       <Ethnicity profile={profile} />
       <RaisedIn profile={profile} />
+      <Height profile={profile} />
       {!isCurrentUser && (
         <>
           <LastOnline lastOnlineTime={userActivity?.last_online_time} />
@@ -520,6 +524,21 @@ function Ethnicity(props: {profile: Profile}) {
   return <AboutRow title={t('profile.ethnicity', 'Ethnicity')} text={text} />
 }
 
+function Height(props: {profile: Profile}) {
+  const t = useT()
+  const {profile} = props
+  const {measurementSystem} = useMeasurementSystem()
+
+  if (profile.height_in_inches == null) return null
+
+  return (
+    <AboutRow
+      title={t('profile.optional.height', 'Height')}
+      text={formatProfileValue('height_in_inches', profile.height_in_inches, measurementSystem, t)}
+    />
+  )
+}
+
 function Smoker(props: {profile: Profile}) {
   const t = useT()
   const {profile} = props
diff --git a/web/components/profile-comment-section.tsx b/web/components/profile-comment-section.tsx
index 7806b4b7..0d3714bb 100644
--- a/web/components/profile-comment-section.tsx
+++ b/web/components/profile-comment-section.tsx
@@ -66,11 +66,22 @@ export const ProfileCommentSection = (props: {
                   trackingLocation={'contract page'}
                 />
               ) : (
-                /* One compact row, not a panel. This is an invitation, and as a 170px dashed box it
-                   outweighed the endorsements it was asking for — and a dashed border reads as a drop
-                   zone, which is the wrong metaphor. The only card left in this region is the
-                   connection-signal one, which actually holds controls. */
+                /* One compact row, not a panel. This is an invitation, and as a 170px box it
+                   outweighed the endorsements it was asking for. The only card left in this region
+                   is the connection-signal one, which actually holds controls. */
                 <Row className="mb-6 flex-wrap items-center gap-x-4 gap-y-2">
+                  {/* Dashed, unfilled, in body ink rather than the accent: nobody arrives here
+                      meaning to write one, so the control should be findable when the thought
+                      occurs and invisible until then. A solid accent pill asked for the click
+                      harder than the endorsements below it asked to be read. */}
+                  {!isCurrentUser && (
+                    <button
+                      onClick={() => setShowCommentInput(true)}
+                      className="border-canvas-300 text-ink-500 hover:border-canvas-400 hover:text-ink-700 w-fit shrink-0 rounded-[10px] border border-dashed px-5 py-2.5 text-sm transition-colors"
+                    >
+                      {t('profile.comments.write_button', 'Write public endorsement')}
+                    </button>
+                  )}
                   <div className="text-ink-500 text-sm">
                     {isCurrentUser
                       ? t(
@@ -79,17 +90,10 @@ export const ProfileCommentSection = (props: {
                         )
                       : t(
                           'profile.comments.other_user_hint',
-                          'If you know them, write something nice that adds to their profile.',
+                          'Know {name}? A few honest sentences help strangers trust him.',
+                          {name: onUser.name},
                         )}
                   </div>
-                  {!isCurrentUser && (
-                    <button
-                      onClick={() => setShowCommentInput(true)}
-                      className="border-canvas-300 text-primary-700 hover:border-primary-400 hover:bg-primary-50 w-fit shrink-0 rounded-full border px-4 py-2 text-sm transition-colors"
-                    >
-                      {t('profile.comments.write_button', 'Write public endorsement')}
-                    </button>
-                  )}
                 </Row>
               )}
             </>
diff --git a/web/components/profile/profile-gallery.tsx b/web/components/profile/profile-gallery.tsx
deleted file mode 100644
index 8d9dd3f3..00000000
--- a/web/components/profile/profile-gallery.tsx
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,142 +0,0 @@
-import clsx from 'clsx'
-import {Profile} from 'common/profiles/profile'
-import {buildArray} from 'common/util/array'
-import Image from 'next/image'
-import {useState} from 'react'
-import {Col} from 'web/components/layout/col'
-import {MediaModal} from 'web/components/media-modal'
-import {SignUpButton} from 'web/components/nav/sidebar'
-import {useUser} from 'web/hooks/use-user'
-import {isVideo} from 'web/lib/firebase/storage'
-import {useT} from 'web/lib/locale'
-
-/**
- * Square photo gallery for the profile hero: one main tile plus a thumbnail strip.
- *
- * Photos are the second thing a visitor checks, so they sit at the top — but the tile is capped at a
- * modest size on purpose. A full-bleed hero image would push the bio, which ranks right behind them,
- * off the first screen.
- */
-const MAIN_SIZE = 300
-const THUMB_SIZE = 64
-
-export default function ProfileGallery(props: {profile: Profile; className?: string}) {
-  const {profile, className} = props
-  const t = useT()
-  const currentUser = useUser()
-
-  const urls = buildArray(profile.pinned_url, profile.photo_urls)
-  const [selected, setSelected] = useState(0)
-  const [lightboxOpen, setLightboxOpen] = useState(false)
-
-  if (urls.length === 0) return null
-
-  // Signed-out visitors on a members-only profile see the pinned photo and a locked count.
-  const isLocked = !currentUser && profile.visibility !== 'public'
-  const visibleUrls = isLocked ? urls.slice(0, 1) : urls
-
-  const selectedUrl = visibleUrls[Math.min(selected, visibleUrls.length - 1)]
-
-  // Every photo gets a thumbnail — they wrap onto as many rows as it takes. The only "+N" left is the
-  // locked one, where the count is all a signed-out visitor is allowed to know.
-  const lockedCount = isLocked ? urls.length - 1 : 0
-
-  return (
-    <Col className={clsx('flex-none gap-3', className)} style={{width: MAIN_SIZE}}>
-      <div
-        className="border-canvas-300 relative aspect-square w-full overflow-hidden rounded-[4px] border"
-        style={{maxWidth: MAIN_SIZE}}
-      >
-        <MediaTile
-          url={selectedUrl}
-          priority
-          onClick={() => !isLocked && setLightboxOpen(true)}
-          className={isLocked ? 'cursor-default' : 'cursor-pointer'}
-        />
-      </div>
-
-      {(visibleUrls.length > 1 || lockedCount > 0) && (
-        <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-2">
-          {!isLocked &&
-            visibleUrls.map((url, i) => (
-              <button
-                key={url}
-                onClick={() => setSelected(i)}
-                aria-label={t('profile.gallery.show_photo', 'Show photo {number}', {number: i + 1})}
-                className={clsx(
-                  'overflow-hidden rounded-[3px] border transition-colors',
-                  i === selected
-                    ? 'border-primary-500'
-                    : 'border-canvas-300 hover:border-primary-400',
-                )}
-                style={{width: THUMB_SIZE, height: THUMB_SIZE}}
-              >
-                <MediaTile url={url} />
-              </button>
-            ))}
-          {lockedCount > 0 && (
-            <div
-              className="bg-canvas-100 border-canvas-300 text-ink-500 flex items-center justify-center rounded-[3px] border border-dashed text-sm"
-              style={{width: THUMB_SIZE, height: THUMB_SIZE}}
-            >
-              <SignUpButton
-                text={`+${lockedCount}`}
-                size="xs"
-                color="none"
-                className="dark:text-ink-500 hover:text-primary-500"
-              />
-            </div>
-          )}
-        </div>
-      )}
-
-      {/* The whole set goes to the modal, not just the tile that was clicked, so it can page through
-          them and show each one's description. Descriptions live only there — under the grid they
-          changed height as you moved between thumbnails and shoved the hero around. */}
-      <MediaModal
-        urls={visibleUrls}
-        index={Math.min(selected, visibleUrls.length - 1)}
-        setIndex={setSelected}
-        descriptions={profile.image_descriptions as Record<string, string>}
-        open={lightboxOpen}
-        setOpen={setLightboxOpen}
-      />
-    </Col>
-  )
-}
-
-function MediaTile(props: {
-  url: string
-  priority?: boolean
-  onClick?: () => void
-  className?: string
-}) {
-  const {url, priority, onClick, className} = props
-
-  if (isVideo(url)) {
-    return (
-      <video
-        src={url}
-        className={clsx('h-full w-full object-cover', className)}
-        autoPlay
-        muted
-        loop
-        playsInline
-        onClick={onClick}
-      />
-    )
-  }
-
-  return (
-    <Image
-      priority={priority}
-      src={url}
-      height={MAIN_SIZE}
-      width={MAIN_SIZE}
-      sizes={`${MAIN_SIZE}px`}
-      alt=""
-      className={clsx('h-full w-full object-cover', className)}
-      onClick={onClick}
-    />
-  )
-}
diff --git a/web/components/profile/profile-hero-photo.tsx b/web/components/profile/profile-hero-photo.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e12ea089
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/components/profile/profile-hero-photo.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+import clsx from 'clsx'
+import {clamp} from 'lodash'
+import {useState} from 'react'
+import {useSafeLayoutEffect} from 'web/hooks/use-safe-layout-effect'
+
+import {MediaTile} from './profile-photos'
+
+const MIN_SIZE = 200
+/** A square as tall as a long text column would leave nothing beside it. */
+const MAX_WIDTH_RATIO = 0.46
+const FALLBACK_SIZE = 300
+/**
+ * Deadband on the measured size. Widening the photo narrows the text, which can make the text
+ * taller, which widens the photo again — so a threshold too small to swallow one line of text lets
+ * the two chase each other forever. Anything under this is left alone.
+ */
+const SETTLE_PX = 8
+
+/**
+ * The single hero photo, square, sized to the height of the text beside it.
+ *
+ * Square rather than the photo's own shape: it makes the band the same at every profile regardless
+ * of what people upload, and the crop is centred, which is where faces are.
+ */
+export default function ProfileHeroPhoto(props: {
+  url: string
+  /** Measured height of the text column — what the photo is matched to. */
+  textHeight: number | undefined
+  /** Measured width of the whole hero row, so a tall text column cannot crowd it out. */
+  bandWidth: number | undefined
+  onClick?: () => void
+  className?: string
+}) {
+  const {url, textHeight, bandWidth, onClick, className} = props
+
+  const [size, setSize] = useState<number | null>(null)
+
+  useSafeLayoutEffect(() => {
+    if (!textHeight || !bandWidth) return
+    const target = clamp(textHeight, MIN_SIZE, bandWidth * MAX_WIDTH_RATIO)
+    setSize((prev) => (prev != null && Math.abs(prev - target) < SETTLE_PX ? prev : target))
+  }, [textHeight, bandWidth])
+
+  return (
+    <div
+      className={clsx(
+        'border-canvas-300 relative aspect-square w-full flex-none overflow-hidden rounded-xl border',
+        'md:w-[var(--hero-photo-size)] md:self-start',
+        onClick && 'cursor-pointer',
+        className,
+      )}
+      style={{['--hero-photo-size' as string]: `${size ?? FALLBACK_SIZE}px`}}
+    >
+      <MediaTile url={url} priority sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 40vw" onClick={onClick} />
+    </div>
+  )
+}
diff --git a/web/components/profile/profile-hero.tsx b/web/components/profile/profile-hero.tsx
index aa92d776..cd8fac66 100644
--- a/web/components/profile/profile-hero.tsx
+++ b/web/components/profile/profile-hero.tsx
@@ -3,12 +3,14 @@ import clsx from 'clsx'
 import {Profile} from 'common/profiles/profile'
 import {User, UserActivity} from 'common/user'
 import Link from 'next/link'
-import React from 'react'
+import React, {useRef} from 'react'
 import {Col} from 'web/components/layout/col'
 import {Row} from 'web/components/layout/row'
-import ProfileGallery from 'web/components/profile/profile-gallery'
+import ProfileHeroPhoto from 'web/components/profile/profile-hero-photo'
+import {useProfilePhotos} from 'web/components/profile/profile-photos'
 import {ProfileConnectionGoals} from 'web/components/profile-about'
 import {linkClass} from 'web/components/widgets/site-link'
+import {useElementSize} from 'web/hooks/use-element-size'
 import {useUser} from 'web/hooks/use-user'
 import {useT} from 'web/lib/locale'
 import {capitalizePure} from 'web/lib/util/time'
@@ -23,6 +25,9 @@ import ProfilePrimaryInfo from './profile-primary-info'
  *
  * No call to action here on purpose: reaching out belongs to the top bar (always reachable) and the
  * Connect section at the end, not to the moment someone is still deciding who they are looking at.
+ *
+ * One photo shares the band, matched to the height of the text beside it; the rest run as a
+ * carousel underneath, where they get room to be seen.
  */
 export default function ProfileHero(props: {
   user: User
@@ -36,6 +41,14 @@ export default function ProfileHero(props: {
   const isCurrentUser = currentUser?.id === user.id
   const t = useT()
 
+  const photos = useProfilePhotos(profile)
+
+  // The photo is matched to the height of the text, so both are measured rather than guessed.
+  const bandRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null)
+  const textRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null)
+  const bandSize = useElementSize(bandRef)
+  const textSize = useElementSize(textRef)
+
   const name = (
     <span
       className="font-heading text-ink-1000 font-normal"
@@ -68,11 +81,34 @@ export default function ProfileHero(props: {
         </Notice>
       )}
 
-      <div className="flex flex-col gap-10 md:flex-row md:items-start md:gap-16">
-        <ProfileGallery profile={profile} />
+      {/* The text is capped rather than left to fill the row, and the photo follows it directly:
+          pinned to the far margin it read as a second column with a gutter of dead space between
+          the two, and the tagline stretched to a measure nobody wants to read. Whatever is left
+          over on a wide screen sits to the right of the photo. */}
+      {/* `items-start`, never `stretch`: the photo takes its size from the text column, so stretching
+          that column to the row height would feed the photo its own height back. A short profile
+          then kept whatever size the photo happened to start at instead of shrinking to the text. */}
+      <div ref={bandRef} className="flex flex-col gap-10 md:flex-row md:items-start md:gap-[72px]">
+        {photos.visibleUrls.length > 0 && (
+          <ProfileHeroPhoto
+            // Right of the text on desktop, above it when stacked: a photo is what you look at
+            // first either way, and on a wide screen the name should still open the line.
+            className="md:order-last"
+            url={photos.visibleUrls[0]}
+            textHeight={textSize?.height}
+            bandWidth={bandSize?.width}
+            onClick={photos.isLocked ? undefined : () => photos.openAt(0)}
+          />
+        )}
 
-        <Col className="min-w-0 flex-1 gap-7">
-          <Col className="gap-3">
+        <Col ref={textRef} className="min-w-0 flex-1 gap-7 md:max-w-3xl">
+          {/* Place, age, height, gender read as an eyebrow above the name rather than a line under
+              it: they are how you file someone, not what you call them, and above the display type
+              they are read once and passed over instead of competing with the tagline. */}
+          {/* The eyebrow needs air under it: at display size the name's own line box provides
+              almost none, and 8px read as the two lines being one block. */}
+          <Col className="gap-4">
+            <ProfilePrimaryInfo profile={profile} eyebrow />
             <div data-testid="profile-display-name-age">
               {simpleView ? (
                 <Link className={linkClass} href={`/${user.username}`}>
@@ -82,30 +118,8 @@ export default function ProfileHero(props: {
                 name
               )}
             </div>
-            <ProfilePrimaryInfo profile={profile} />
           </Col>
 
-          {/* Outlined rather than filled, squared rather than pill: five filled pills read as five
-              buttons. These are labels, and the eye should pass over them on the way to the tagline. */}
-          {profile.keywords && profile.keywords.length > 0 && (
-            <Row className="max-w-3xl flex-wrap gap-2" data-testid="profile-keywords">
-              {profile.keywords.map(capitalizePure).map((tag, i) => (
-                <span
-                  key={i}
-                  className="border-canvas-300 text-primary-800 font-dm-sans rounded-[3px] border uppercase"
-                  style={{
-                    padding: '6px 11px',
-                    fontSize: '11px',
-                    fontWeight: '400',
-                    letterSpacing: '0.13em',
-                  }}
-                >
-                  {tag.trim()}
-                </span>
-              ))}
-            </Row>
-          )}
-
           {/* The tagline is the one thing on this page written to be read as a voice, so it gets the
               serif italic at display size instead of a quoted aside pinned behind a rule. */}
           {profile.headline && (
@@ -122,9 +136,34 @@ export default function ProfileHero(props: {
             </div>
           )}
 
+          {/* Outlined rather than filled, squared rather than pill: five filled pills read as five
+              buttons. These are labels, and the eye should land on them last, after the tagline.
+              Same tracking as the eyebrow they echo, and a border kept under the eyebrow's weight so
+              a row of them does not out-shout the line that opens the block. */}
+          {profile.keywords && profile.keywords.length > 0 && (
+            <Row className="max-w-3xl flex-wrap gap-2" data-testid="profile-keywords">
+              {profile.keywords.map(capitalizePure).map((tag, i) => (
+                <span
+                  key={i}
+                  className="border-canvas-300/70 text-primary-800 font-dm-sans rounded-[3px] border uppercase"
+                  style={{
+                    padding: '6px 11px',
+                    fontSize: '11px',
+                    fontWeight: '400',
+                    letterSpacing: '0.16em',
+                  }}
+                >
+                  {tag.trim()}
+                </span>
+              ))}
+            </Row>
+          )}
+
           <ProfileConnectionGoals profile={profile} />
         </Col>
       </div>
+
+      {photos.lightbox}
     </Col>
   )
 }
diff --git a/web/components/profile/profile-info.tsx b/web/components/profile/profile-info.tsx
index ceaa5106..c3d327fe 100644
--- a/web/components/profile/profile-info.tsx
+++ b/web/components/profile/profile-info.tsx
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import {SignUpButton} from 'web/components/nav/sidebar'
 import {ConnectActions} from 'web/components/profile/connect-actions'
 import {ProfileHeaderActions} from 'web/components/profile/profile-header'
 import ProfileHero from 'web/components/profile/profile-hero'
+import ProfilePhotoCarousel from 'web/components/profile/profile-photo-carousel'
+import {useProfilePhotos} from 'web/components/profile/profile-photos'
 import ProfileAbout, {
   hasAccessibility,
   hasBigFive,
@@ -461,6 +463,7 @@ function ProfileContent(props: {
   const isCurrentUser = currentUser?.id === user.id
   const t = useT()
 
+  const photos = useProfilePhotos(profile)
   const {answeredQuestions} = useCompatibilityQuestionGroups(user.id)
   const showCompatibilityPrompts = currentUser && (isCurrentUser || answeredQuestions.length > 0)
 
@@ -479,7 +482,7 @@ function ProfileContent(props: {
         className="mt-10 flex flex-col gap-14 lg:grid lg:grid-cols-[minmax(0,700px)_minmax(300px,1fr)] lg:items-start lg:gap-x-12 lg:gap-y-14"
         data-testid="profile-content"
       >
-        <div className="min-w-0 lg:col-start-1 lg:row-start-1">
+        <Col className="min-w-0 gap-14 lg:col-start-1 lg:row-start-1">
           {profile.bio && (
             <Section title={t('profile.bio.about_me', 'About Me')}>
               <ProfileBio
@@ -490,7 +493,18 @@ function ProfileContent(props: {
               />
             </Section>
           )}
-        </div>
+
+          {/* The rest of the photos, sideways under the bio rather than as thumbnails beside the
+              hero: here they are large enough to be looked at instead of counted. */}
+          <ProfilePhotoCarousel
+            urls={photos.visibleUrls.slice(1)}
+            descriptions={profile.image_descriptions as Record<string, string>}
+            lockedCount={photos.lockedCount}
+            indexOffset={1}
+            onSelect={photos.openAt}
+          />
+          {photos.lightbox}
+        </Col>
 
         {/* Pinned beside the prose, and scrollable within itself — see ScrollPanel for the cues that
             make the second half of that obvious. Once wide enough for two readable columns it splits,
diff --git a/web/components/profile/profile-photo-carousel.tsx b/web/components/profile/profile-photo-carousel.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..183bedb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/components/profile/profile-photo-carousel.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+import clsx from 'clsx'
+import {clamp} from 'lodash'
+import {useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState} from 'react'
+import {Col} from 'web/components/layout/col'
+import {Row} from 'web/components/layout/row'
+import {SignUpButton} from 'web/components/nav/sidebar'
+import {useT} from 'web/lib/locale'
+
+import {MediaTile} from './profile-photos'
+
+const CARD_HEIGHT_CLASS = 'h-[220px] md:h-[300px]'
+/** Same floor as the hero: a sliver of a photo is worse than a centred crop of it. */
+const MIN_ASPECT = 4 / 5
+/** One panorama should not be the whole strip. */
+const MAX_ASPECT = 16 / 9
+
+/**
+ * The rest of the photos, as one sideways strip under the bio.
+ *
+ * A thumbnail rail next to the hero made every photo but one a 64px afterthought. Down here each
+ * one is shown at a size worth looking at, at a shared height so the row reads as a single line,
+ * and with its description as a caption — the one place descriptions are legible without opening
+ * anything.
+ */
+export default function ProfilePhotoCarousel(props: {
+  urls: string[]
+  descriptions?: Record<string, string>
+  lockedCount?: number
+  /** Index within the full photo set, so the lightbox opens on the photo that was clicked. */
+  indexOffset?: number
+  onSelect?: (index: number) => void
+  className?: string
+}) {
+  const {urls, descriptions, lockedCount = 0, indexOffset = 0, onSelect, className} = props
+  const t = useT()
+
+  const scrollRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null)
+  // Kept measured while the hint above the strip is commented out, so re-enabling it is one edit.
+  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unused-vars
+  const [hasMore, setHasMore] = useState(false)
+
+  const measure = useCallback(() => {
+    const el = scrollRef.current
+    if (!el) return
+    // 4px of slack keeps the hint from sticking on at the very end of a sub-pixel layout.
+    setHasMore(el.scrollWidth - el.clientWidth - el.scrollLeft > 4)
+  }, [])
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const el = scrollRef.current
+    if (!el) return
+    measure()
+    el.addEventListener('scroll', measure, {passive: true})
+    const observer = new ResizeObserver(measure)
+    observer.observe(el)
+    return () => {
+      el.removeEventListener('scroll', measure)
+      observer.disconnect()
+    }
+  }, [measure, urls.length])
+
+  if (urls.length === 0 && lockedCount === 0) return null
+
+  return (
+    <Col className={clsx('gap-4', className)} data-testid="profile-photo-carousel">
+      <Row className="items-baseline justify-between">
+        <div
+          className="text-ink-400 font-dm-sans uppercase"
+          style={{fontSize: '10px', letterSpacing: '0.18em'}}
+        >
+          {t('profile.photos', 'Photos')}
+        </div>
+        {/*<div*/}
+        {/*  aria-hidden*/}
+        {/*  className={clsx(*/}
+        {/*    'text-ink-400 text-sm transition-opacity duration-200',*/}
+        {/*    hasMore ? 'opacity-100' : 'opacity-0',*/}
+        {/*  )}*/}
+        {/*>*/}
+        {/*  {t('profile.photos.scroll_sideways', 'Scroll sideways')} →*/}
+        {/*</div>*/}
+      </Row>
+
+      {/* Two overrides here, both load-bearing for scrolling the *page* with the cursor over the
+          strip. `overflow-y-hidden`: a non-visible `overflow-x` makes the browser compute
+          `overflow-y` as auto too, so a stray pixel of vertical overflow would make this a vertical
+          scroller. `!overscroll-y-auto`: `.scrollbar-visible` sets `overscroll-behavior: contain`,
+          which is right for ScrollPanel and wrong here — it stops the wheel chaining to the page.
+          Contain is kept on the x axis, where it prevents a sideways swipe going back a page. */}
+      <div
+        ref={scrollRef}
+        className="scrollbar-visible -mx-1 flex snap-x gap-3 overflow-x-auto overflow-y-hidden overscroll-x-contain !overscroll-y-auto px-1 pb-3"
+      >
+        {urls.map((url, i) => (
+          <PhotoCard
+            key={url}
+            url={url}
+            caption={descriptions?.[url]}
+            onClick={onSelect && (() => onSelect(indexOffset + i))}
+          />
+        ))}
+        {lockedCount > 0 && (
+          <div
+            className={clsx(
+              'bg-canvas-100 border-canvas-300 text-ink-500 flex flex-none snap-start items-center justify-center rounded-[4px] border border-dashed',
+              CARD_HEIGHT_CLASS,
+            )}
+            style={{aspectRatio: MIN_ASPECT}}
+          >
+            <SignUpButton
+              text={`+${lockedCount}`}
+              size="xs"
+              color="none"
+              className="dark:text-ink-500 hover:text-primary-500"
+            />
+          </div>
+        )}
+      </div>
+    </Col>
+  )
+}
+
+function PhotoCard(props: {url: string; caption?: string; onClick?: () => void}) {
+  const {url, caption, onClick} = props
+  const [aspect, setAspect] = useState<number | null>(null)
+
+  return (
+    <Col className="flex-none snap-start gap-2">
+      <div
+        className={clsx(
+          'border-canvas-300 relative overflow-hidden rounded-[4px] border',
+          CARD_HEIGHT_CLASS,
+          onClick && 'cursor-pointer',
+        )}
+        style={{aspectRatio: clamp(aspect ?? MIN_ASPECT, MIN_ASPECT, MAX_ASPECT)}}
+      >
+        <MediaTile
+          url={url}
+          sizes="(max-width: 768px) 60vw, 300px"
+          onAspect={setAspect}
+          onClick={onClick}
+        />
+      </div>
+      {caption && (
+        <div className="text-primary-800 max-w-[34ch] text-sm leading-snug">{caption}</div>
+      )}
+    </Col>
+  )
+}
diff --git a/web/components/profile/profile-photos.tsx b/web/components/profile/profile-photos.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d8a56715
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/components/profile/profile-photos.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+import clsx from 'clsx'
+import {Profile} from 'common/profiles/profile'
+import {buildArray} from 'common/util/array'
+import Image from 'next/image'
+import {useState} from 'react'
+import {MediaModal} from 'web/components/media-modal'
+import {useUser} from 'web/hooks/use-user'
+import {isVideo} from 'web/lib/firebase/storage'
+
+/**
+ * Shared state for the two places a profile's photos appear: the hero portrait and the carousel
+ * under the bio.
+ *
+ * They are one set, not two — clicking either opens the same lightbox at the right index — so the
+ * urls and the lightbox live here rather than being duplicated on both sides.
+ */
+export function useProfilePhotos(profile: Profile) {
+  const currentUser = useUser()
+  const [index, setIndex] = useState(0)
+  const [lightboxOpen, setLightboxOpen] = useState(false)
+
+  const urls = buildArray(profile.pinned_url, profile.photo_urls)
+
+  // Signed-out visitors on a members-only profile see the pinned photo and a locked count.
+  const isLocked = !currentUser && profile.visibility !== 'public'
+  const visibleUrls = isLocked ? urls.slice(0, 1) : urls
+  const lockedCount = isLocked ? urls.length - 1 : 0
+
+  const safeIndex = Math.min(index, Math.max(0, visibleUrls.length - 1))
+
+  return {
+    urls,
+    visibleUrls,
+    isLocked,
+    lockedCount,
+    /** Opens the lightbox on one photo of the set — same set from either component. */
+    openAt: (i: number) => {
+      setIndex(i)
+      setLightboxOpen(true)
+    },
+    lightbox: (
+      /* The whole set goes to the modal, not just the tile that was clicked, so it can page through
+         them and show each one's description. */
+      <MediaModal
+        urls={visibleUrls}
+        index={safeIndex}
+        setIndex={setIndex}
+        descriptions={profile.image_descriptions as Record<string, string>}
+        open={lightboxOpen}
+        setOpen={setLightboxOpen}
+      />
+    ),
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * A photo filling its box, reporting its intrinsic aspect ratio once decoded.
+ *
+ * Both callers size the box from that ratio, so the box starts at a fallback shape and settles when
+ * the ratio arrives. `naturalWidth` is the intrinsic size, unaffected by the CSS stretching it here.
+ */
+export function MediaTile(props: {
+  url: string
+  priority?: boolean
+  sizes?: string
+  onAspect?: (aspect: number) => void
+  onClick?: () => void
+  className?: string
+}) {
+  const {url, priority, sizes, onAspect, onClick, className} = props
+
+  if (isVideo(url)) {
+    return (
+      <video
+        src={url}
+        className={clsx('h-full w-full object-cover object-center', className)}
+        autoPlay
+        muted
+        loop
+        playsInline
+        onLoadedMetadata={(e) => {
+          const {videoWidth, videoHeight} = e.currentTarget
+          if (videoHeight) onAspect?.(videoWidth / videoHeight)
+        }}
+        onClick={onClick}
+      />
+    )
+  }
+
+  return (
+    <Image
+      priority={priority}
+      src={url}
+      fill
+      sizes={sizes ?? '(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 40vw'}
+      alt=""
+      className={clsx('object-cover object-center', className)}
+      onLoad={(e) => {
+        const {naturalWidth, naturalHeight} = e.currentTarget
+        if (naturalHeight) onAspect?.(naturalWidth / naturalHeight)
+      }}
+      onClick={onClick}
+    />
+  )
+}
diff --git a/web/components/profile/profile-primary-info.tsx b/web/components/profile/profile-primary-info.tsx
index 054ab74d..8540fedf 100644
--- a/web/components/profile/profile-primary-info.tsx
+++ b/web/components/profile/profile-primary-info.tsx
@@ -1,35 +1,37 @@
+import clsx from 'clsx'
 import {convertGender, Gender} from 'common/gender'
 import {getLocationText} from 'common/geodb'
 import {Profile} from 'common/profiles/profile'
 import {buildArray} from 'common/util/array'
 import {capitalize} from 'lodash'
 import React from 'react'
-import {useMeasurementSystem} from 'web/hooks/use-measurement-system'
 import {useT} from 'web/lib/locale'
 
-import {formatProfileValue} from '../profile-about'
 import {ProfileLocation} from './profile-location'
 
 /**
- * Place, age, height, gender as one editorial line separated by hairline slashes.
+ * Place, age, gender as one editorial line separated by hairline slashes.
  *
  * The icons this used to carry were doing no work — nobody needs a pictogram to parse "32" as an age
  * once it sits in this sequence — and four of them turned the line under the name into visual clutter
  * at exactly the point the eye should be moving fastest.
  */
-export default function ProfilePrimaryInfo(props: {profile: Profile; short?: boolean}) {
-  const {profile, short = false} = props
+export default function ProfilePrimaryInfo(props: {
+  profile: Profile
+  short?: boolean
+  /** Small, uppercase and tracked, for the line sitting above the name in the hero. */
+  eyebrow?: boolean
+}) {
+  const {profile, short = false, eyebrow = false} = props
   const t = useT()
-  const {measurementSystem} = useMeasurementSystem()
 
   const parts = buildArray<React.ReactNode>(
     // Checked here rather than left to ProfileLocation: a component that renders null still counts as
     // an entry, which would leave the line starting on a stray separator.
     !!getLocationText(profile) && <ProfileLocation profile={profile} hideIcon />,
     profile.age && String(profile.age),
-    !short &&
-      profile.height_in_inches != null &&
-      formatProfileValue('height_in_inches', profile.height_in_inches, measurementSystem, t),
+    // Height is not here: it lives in the Details rail, where a number people filter on belongs.
+    // In this line it read as a headline fact and pushed the eye past the gender that follows it.
     !short &&
       profile.gender &&
       capitalize(t(`profile.gender.${profile.gender}`, convertGender(profile.gender as Gender))),
@@ -39,14 +41,20 @@ export default function ProfilePrimaryInfo(props: {profile: Profile; short?: boo
 
   return (
     <div
-      className="text-ink-500 flex flex-wrap items-center"
+      className={clsx(
+        'text-ink-500 flex flex-wrap items-center',
+        eyebrow && 'font-dm-sans uppercase',
+      )}
       data-testid="profile-gender-location-height-inches"
-      style={{fontSize: '15px'}}
+      style={eyebrow ? {fontSize: '11px', letterSpacing: '0.16em'} : {fontSize: '15px'}}
     >
       {parts.map((part, i) => (
         <React.Fragment key={i}>
           {i > 0 && (
-            <span aria-hidden className="text-ink-400 px-3.5 select-none">
+            <span
+              aria-hidden
+              className={clsx('text-ink-400 select-none', eyebrow ? 'px-2.5' : 'px-3.5')}
+            >
               /
             </span>
           )}
diff --git a/web/hooks/use-element-size.ts b/web/hooks/use-element-size.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3415ed41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/hooks/use-element-size.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import {RefObject, useState} from 'react'
+
+import {useSafeLayoutEffect} from './use-safe-layout-effect'
+
+export type ElementSize = {width: number; height: number}
+
+/**
+ * Live border-box size of an element, or null until it has been laid out.
+ *
+ * Layout effect so the first paint after mount already has the real numbers: callers use this to
+ * size a sibling, and a frame at the fallback size reads as a flicker.
+ */
+export function useElementSize(ref: RefObject<HTMLElement | null>) {
+  const [size, setSize] = useState<ElementSize | null>(null)
+
+  useSafeLayoutEffect(() => {
+    const el = ref.current
+    if (!el) return
+
+    const measure = () => {
+      const {width, height} = el.getBoundingClientRect()
+      if (!width && !height) return
+      setSize((prev) =>
+        prev && Math.abs(prev.width - width) < 0.5 && Math.abs(prev.height - height) < 0.5
+          ? prev
+          : {width, height},
+      )
+    }
+
+    measure()
+    const observer = new ResizeObserver(measure)
+    observer.observe(el)
+    return () => observer.disconnect()
+  }, [ref])
+
+  return size
+}
diff --git a/web/lib/util/recording-store.ts b/web/lib/util/recording-store.ts
index 4bf18837..10e7b2a1 100644
--- a/web/lib/util/recording-store.ts
+++ b/web/lib/util/recording-store.ts
@@ -45,7 +45,10 @@ function openDb(): Promise<IDBDatabase> {
   })
 }
 
-function tx<T>(mode: IDBTransactionMode, run: (store: IDBObjectStore) => IDBRequest<T>): Promise<T> {
+function tx<T>(
+  mode: IDBTransactionMode,
+  run: (store: IDBObjectStore) => IDBRequest<T>,
+): Promise<T> {
   return openDb().then(
     (db) =>
       new Promise<T>((resolve, reject) => {