Something curious with photos

[ensom]

Sometimes when I look back at old photos of myself -- photos I could hardly bring myself to look at after they were taken because I could not stand the way I looked in them -- I find myself thinking I don't look so bad.

Something else: Once in a blue moon, when the planets are aligned in a very specific way, there will be a photo of me taken I actually like -- or, at least, can stand to look at. However, given enough time, I will come to hate this photo, to the point where I have no idea why I liked it initially.

I hope my post is clear. Just something strange I've noticed.

Has anyone experienced this or something similar?

 

[IgnoredOne]

Yup. I've never considered myself very photogenic.

Hate is too strong a word for my vague aversion, though.

 

[theSmokingRabbit]

I'm the same way. I have almost no pictures of myself.

The only ones I tend to like are ones taken when I wasn't paying attention to the camera or was unaware of its presence.

 

[Tristeza]

I feel the same way. I found some pics of me from 6, 7 years ago and thought I looked pretty decent. For the most part, I try to dodge the camera b/c I don't feel that I am photogenic.

 

[Beatbouncer]

Sounds very familiar. I usually try to be behind the camera.
I think there is just one photo of myself that I like and that was made by a friend of mine who is a professional in the field and she used quite a bit of photoshop ... but apart from that ... nah better not.

 

[S t r a y]

I find that photos taken in daylight are usually very flattering compared to those in poor lighting. Keep this in mind if you want a good photo.

 

[Sci-Fi]

A lot of people are critical of themselves especially when it comes to photographs, we're our own worst critics. It has a lot to do with your mood and state of mind. If you think you don't look so bad in a photo you previously didn't like it's probably because you were feeling better about yourself. When you grow to dislike a picture you once liked you're probably in a different frame of mind where you aren't feeling so good about yourself.

 

[TheSolitaryMan]

I absolutely hate most photos of myself. I dislike even the "nice" ones. I look "normal" and alright in video weirdly enough, but photos always make me look like some kind of ogre

Partly I think it has to do with comfort on camera. I always feel uncomfortable when someone takes my photo, and it shows.

Plus people seem to take pics of me at annoying angles and times, like when I'm biting into a sandwich, taken at a 45 degree angle under my chin for maximum "added fatness" factor

It's important to remember that photos are not actually what you look like in a world in motion. It's possible to be good looking but unphotogenic and vice versa.

I've seen models who have angular features that suit photos very well, but they don't look anywhere near so stunning in real life because photos like that are obviously studied and tweaked until they look "perfect".

 

[annik]

I'm fine with photo's of me as long as my face isn't in them! I have endless shots of my own feet. I do get you're point though. I have old passport shots I took for pen palling that I didn't really like much and now I look back and think "wish I still looked like that". The nicest pic of me I think was one where I had a proper natural smile (because I wasn't thinking about the photo). Normally I'm so uncomfortable in photos it really shows.

 

[DreamerDeceiver]

I like to look back on photos of myself when I was little, those can be amusing. I barely have any pictures of myself from the last decade. And I dislike taking pictures of myself as I'm also not photogenic. Though when I look into a mirror, I don't look bad at all, "mirrorgenic" if you will.. If only there was a technology in mirrors that would capture reflected light the same way a lens did and turn it into a digital image. Yes, it's something about mirrors...

 

[ensom]

@DreamerDeceiver

An interesting point about mirrors. I remember learning in a psychology 101 class about a study where participants were shown two photos of themselves -- one mirrored and the other not -- and asked which photo they preferred. Most of the participants chose the mirrored photo, and the researchers concluded this was because that is the way those participants are used to seeing themselves. When friends of the participants were shown the two pictures and asked to choose which they preferred, they chose the unmirrored picture, presumably because that's they way they are used to seeing their friend.

Here's a link to the study if anyone's interested: https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/dermer/public/vita/mita_reversed.pdf

I haven't read it so it's possible my summation is inaccurate.

 

[Sprint]

Sometimes when I look back at old photos of myself -- photos I could hardly bring myself to look at after they were taken because I could not stand the way I looked in them -- I find myself thinking I don't look so bad.

Something else: Once in a blue moon, when the planets are aligned in a very specific way, there will be a photo of me taken I actually like -- or, at least, can stand to look at. However, given enough time, I will come to hate this photo, to the point where I have no idea why I liked it initially.

I hope my post is clear. Just something strange I've noticed.

Has anyone experienced this or something similar?

I relate to this, but not about my photos. It's about my artwork. Some pieces I create, I then detest... but then I will look at them later on down the road of life & think they look better than I remembered. Yet other pieces I will think look so great, but then again... later down the road, I dislike them.