Question about the point of view when using の右 / の左?

Question

I am a bit unclear about which point of view we are talking about when describing the location of things.
For Example:

小山さんは山下さんの右にいます。

For this sentence I have two possible interpretations:

1. Koyama is to Yamashita's right.
2. Koyama is to the right of Yamashita.

In the first one the POV is Yamashita, so assuming he is facing us, that would mean from our POV he is to the left. The second one is more ambiguous to me, but I would usually assume that we are speaking from our POV here. I'm not native in English though, so I could be a bit wrong here.
Regardless, my questions is whether it is also ambiguous in Japanese or if there is a clear POV?

I have a feeling that it is more like the first interpretation, since that is closer to how the の-particle works.
If there is a clear POV, would the same then also apply to 後ろ and 前?

Answer 1

小山さんは山下さんの右にいます is indeed ambiguous when the speaker is facing them. In a situation like this, you should explicitly specify the point of view like so:

• 小山さんは山下さんから見て右にいます。
• 小山さんは{私/ここ/こちら/鈴木さん/皆さん/etc}から見て山下さんの右にいます。
• 小山さんは山下さんの向かって右にいます。

向かって右/左 is a handy expression that fixates the POV to the listener (i.e., "your right/left", but the POV can be the speaker when there is no listener). When you're seeing a photo, the POV is usually you, so you probably don't have to say 向かって or こちらから見て.

This is a common topic in educational programs for children.

(Some fields may have their own customs. For example, in medical contexts, 右 always refers to the patient's right, not the examiner's, so you usually don't have to say 患者さんから見て. This is definitely 右の肺の異常 even when you're viewing a monitor.)

As for 前/後ろ, we have a special pair of words that automatically fix the POV to the observer. See: What is the difference between 前にある vs 手前にある? So when you say 小山さんの前, the POV is always 小山さん.