In this paper we propose a template matching approach to address the pose problem in face verification, which neither synthesizes the face image, nor builds a model of the face image. Template matching is performed using edginess-based representation of face images. The edginess-based representation of face images is computed using one-dimensional (1-D) processing of images. An approach is proposed based on autoassociative neural network (AANN) models to verify the identity of a person using score obtained from template matching. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.