  Using the Millennium Galaxy Catalogue we quantify the dependency of the disc
and bulge luminosity functions on galaxy inclination. Using a contemporary dust
model we show that our results are consistent with galaxy discs being optically
thick in their central regions (tau_B^f=3.8+/-0.7). As a consequence the
measured B-band fluxes of bulges can be severely attenuated by 50% to 95%
depending on disc inclination. We argue that a galaxy's optical appearance can
be radically transformed by simply removing the dust, e.g. during cluster
infall, with mid-type galaxies becoming earlier, redder, and more luminous.
Finally we derive the mean photon escape fraction from the integrated galaxy
population over the 0.1micron to 2.1 micron range, and use this to show that
the energy of starlight absorbed by dust (in our model) is in close agreement
with the total far-IR emission.
