Family portraits

Mawbroom, we could have been sisters back in the day; same hairdo and I had a dress just like yours!

I generally take the photos. When ever I am in one I don't like what I see. I had a professional come to our house and take a set of photos in garden and house that my husband and I could choose from. It is costly but you do get some carefully thought out good photos and now I am older they are a nice memory for me too.

My gd has just had a baby and I dug out aa load of photos of her throughout her childhood, first day in at school, standing proudly in her school uniform, playing on the beach etc. I have put these all in an album and written underneath each one. I have given it to her telling her she can now start her own family album and add pictures of her own instead of having them all on her phone. She lived the idea.

When I was young and lovely I just couldn't wait to rush to the chemists to pick up our developed photos but now the older I get the more I hate being photographed - just like my dear old mum was at my age. I have to say though that digital cameras and smartphones really don't take as good a shot as a 'proper' camera, even the disposable ones took a nicer, truer image IMHO

Thank you all for your responses - it's comforting in a way to know I'm by no means alone in hating having my photo taken. My son is getting married in May, and I know there's no way I can avoid being in the photos, so I will try...

I am nostalgic for the albums we used to gaze at photos in. I usually dislike myself in pics but I recently looked at a picture of me aged 24 with two small children. I used not to like that photo as I look tired and a bit scruffy. Now I'm just amazed - I look so young! One of my DC is a photographer and says it is so hard getting everyone in a group to look happy and good at one time. There's always a sulky teenager, a naughty child or dog and a lot of editing to do afterwards! I agree you owe it to posterity to appear in an occasional photo but insist it is taken with a good camera when you are looking as nice as you can and print it for that album.

If only I could smile, or even have a pleasant expression, at the same time as everyone else! I’ve always hated having my photo taken, as I’ve either blinked at the wrong time or I’m waving my hands about with a daft expression on my face! I’m always totally out of sync with everyone else.

I don't mind being photographed at all, even though I don't always look my best. But last year, when I was trying to find a photo to show my DIL, I noticed how few of the family photos I was actually in. The reason being I was usually the one taking the photo! So this year I am hoping to organise a big family photoshoot to celebrate our anniversary. The style of portrait photography is much more relaxed these days, and I'll try to make it fun for all the family, and include their individual family groups as well, or whatever they would like.

I think it's important for future generations to have family photos. I have so often heard people say 'I wish we had taken more photos of our children/parents/grandparents'. And it's equally important to make a note of who the people in the photos are. It's so frustrating to find a photo of a past generation and have no idea who they are!

Do try to summon up your courage Blondiescot, just for a few hours, to have some beautiful photos taken with your family, they will really appreciate it. And perhaps ask him to take one shot without you in it if you prefer not to be on display in your home.

I second what Direne3 says. I have been practising seeing myself as others see me on my phone for year or s now, and because I only ever round to doing it in the evening directly under a powerful LED floor light, I don’t look my best - the light shows up all the wrinkles and saggy bits where I’ve lost weight ( I’d rather it had gone from my bingo wings, but you can’t have it all ... ). And I look just like my mother! But I’m now much more familiar with what I look like in real life, and the initial horror has given way to a much more appreciative acceptance. I have also made a point of looking at friends if I’m with them in a lift with mirror walls, and have been struck how odd and misshapen they look, even though they look ‘normal’ the right way round, and that’s helped too. None of is perfectly symmetrical, after all, so we’re all in this together!

I don’t photograph well and am shocked by what I look like on FaceTime ( pretty awful) but I would love a decent family photo. There aren’t many of us, just us, the children and 2 grandchildren but I think i always spoil the photo. Its a shame we are so hard on ourselves.
MissA

I don't think the world at large will be impoverished in any way by not having a picture of me, looking like guy the gorilla in earrings preserved for posterity.

Seems most women dislike photos of themselves, but I think we have to remember that we are being super-critical when we look at ourselves in photos, in the mirror or catch a glimpse in a shop window.

I have often said of a photo of myself that it is dreadful, but others don't see it like that. And I have often genuinely been unable to understand why a friend or sister has disliked a photo of herself.

I don’t mind my photo being taken , I don’t always come out well but so what. We have loads and loads of family photos and it’s wonderful to look back on them. My children and gc also like to see them it’s part of their family history and shows who in this generation looks like someone from a few generations back.

Am just the same,hate photos and hate mirrors as well

It's weird -- they say the 'stars' don't look as good in real-life -- they have their photos digitally improved. My problem is the opposite -- I look awful in photographs when I'm pretty okay looking in real-life. I cannot bear to look at myself in photos and keep the taking of them to the minimum but I know I look pretty good when I look in the mirror -- clearly the camera does lie lol.

I don't particularly like having my photo taken and nor did my late husband but fortunately I had a few of him which I could put on display.
These days you have to wonder where they're going to end up - on social media for instance without being asked first.

Recently my daughter arranged to have a family portrait taken while my two GC's are still living at home. She asked if I was free to let her two elderly dogs out while the family were having the photo taken, as they would be taking the two younger dogs and the family cat, to be in the photo.

Does anyone like having photos taken? ( unless they are a model? NO - I don't think so!) We are all so vain and don't like they way we look, until after a few years we look back less objectively and think we did not look that bad after all. But it is such a shame not to have your picture taken because your family love you warts and all and when we are gone grandchildren and future generations will love our photos. ( I am doing my family tree and really cherish the oldest photos I have found) Maybe we should stop being so vain!

Theresamb, get your photograph 'flipped' so that you are viewing the face that you see in the mirror - really interesting what a difference it makes.

I know I'm not photogenic, and its been confirmed at various times with bus drivers laughing at my bus pass picture, and someone asking if I was having a bad day when my passport photo was taken.

I'm so glad to know I'm not alone in this. I do have a passport - but hated having my pic taken for it - and I need to renew it now so will have to go through that ordeal again. And believe me, it's definitely not down to vanity - I'm one of the least vain people you could ever meet - but I am one of those people who actually looks worse when they smile!

I am pretty horrified at my ageing face in photos but it is not easy for others if one refuses to be in a family snap.

My son put on weight when he was fifteen and refused to be in any photos until he was into his twenties. Consequently I have no record of him growing up which nigh on broke my heart.

Gummybears you are not descended from Queen Victoria are you? It is said she often criticised her children for being ugly and that makes me so angry - where did she think faces and features come from?
I am truly sorry your mum had this weird idea and can imagine the psychological consequences. How could she?
One often sees babies (usually of the Churchillian variety) and thinks “well at least his mum must love him” but every baby is beautiful to those who love it just as we love our old dears and hope they love us back!

gummybears
That made me tearful for you.