Moved from “General Forums > Blender and CG Discussions” to “Support > Basics & Interface”
Basically, you’ve run into a terminology problem. Ctrl+Numpad 3 does not give you a “left-facing” profile. The thing to note is that it’s an audience-centric perspective. So if Numpad+1 gives you the front view of the model, then Ctrl+Numpad 3 gives you the view of your model from your left (stage right, if you’re familiar with theatre terminology).
I personally find it backwards, but I’ve had this argument with the development team before (and obviously lost). So for my purposes, I disregard left/right designations altogether. I now think just think of Numpad 3 as “Side View” and Ctrl+Numpad 3 as “Other Side View”.
As a memory aid:
Add “from the” to any view description. So “top” view is actually a view “from the top” onto the model, front view a view “from the front” etc. This leads to the side views indeed being seemingly reversed: Left view is a view “from the left” and therefore actually showing the right side of the model.