1. A method for searching a collection of media objects, comprising: combining information pertaining to a feature common to a plurality of reference objects to produce composite reference information representing criteria for a search; and comparing the composite reference information to information pertaining to the same feature for each respective one of a plurality of media objects in a collection of media objects to identify one or more media objects; wherein a non-Euclidian function is used either to combine the information pertaining to the feature, or to compare the composite reference information to information pertaining to the same feature.