Why Do Some People Hate to Have Their Picture Taken?
My foster mother hated having her picture taken. When I wanted to take a picture of our foster family sitting around the dinner table she said it had to be snapped from behind her. Otherwise, no photo. She sat stiff as a board, as if someone was about to shoot her. Can getting your picture taken be that scary for some people? Why?
The thing is, I don't like people taking snapshots of me either. Can't tell you when this "fear" came about or why. I'm positive my foster mother's dislike of having her picture taken had nothing to do with it. Being in front of a camera creeps me out.
I wrote an article for a magazine and was asked to email a snapshot of myself to go with the published article. Not having a digital camera at the time, I called a friend. She said for me to come to her place. My idea was to stand among the trees in her yard and obscure my face in a shadow or even behind a branch. She would have none of it. She marched me into her house, sat me in a chair and when the flash didn't work she did not give up. It was going to be a clear, decent photograph. Nothing changed her mind. Not even my comment about the flash not working because my picture should not be taken indoors. Nor the comment about how mysterious it would be if people couldn't see my face. She got the flash working and after several shots finally agree on one, one which showed my stubby whiskers as plain as day. (I was in such a hurry to get the picture sent off, I didn't shave before I left my house. Besides, if I had my way, no one would be able to see my face that well.)
So why do some people hate having their picture taken? From my perspective, I really don't know. I don't hide my face in public. Maybe it's the thought of someone I don't know having a "record" of my face. If someone in public sees my face they are likely to forget it within a few minutes. But with a picture every detail of my face can be studied. Are my ears too big? My eyes too far apart? My nose and mouth out of proportion with the rest of my face? Am I down right ugly and don't know it? Why would I want the world to see any of that?
Is it really people I don't know, knowing what I look like? Why don't I hide my face in public? A woman can wear a burka, I can't. That would be stupid. At one time a full beard covered my face, which many men grow to hide their faces. Mine looked cool, or so I thought at the time. But old driver's license photos make me appear to be a mean S.O.B.--something I have never been.Maybe it's the unknown. Who knows what someone is doing with my picture? Do they have it pinned to the wall, planning for me to be the next victim of some twisted plot? It's as scary as the thing that hides under the bed at night. Or the thing in the closet that makes strange noises. You know what I'm talking about. The creaking we all pass off as the house settling or the wind blowing.
It might just all boil down to shyness. Intrepidness has never been my forte.
Published by Richard L. Meister Jr.
Richard has been a part-time freelance writer since 1986. He has also worked as a full-time writer and has taught a writing class for a local college. View profile
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5 Comments
Post a CommentI don't like havin my picture taken from the neck down (my own irrational self-esteem issues there) but I'm not fond of having my picture taken in general either. It's a tad better now that I've made so many videos but I'm still shy. And that just may very well be it for all of us. I do wish I had more pics of me and Mags as she has grown... Great piece, Richard. Always, always, you make me wonder...just how fabulous your mind is, but how does it work?? ;)
Except for little kids, I think most of us shy away from the camera. It is nice to have those photos for future generations though. Your story was fun.
Rusty, when I was a kid I used to carry a camera around all the time. That's where all the pictures of the farm (in my "life clips") came from. I was able to get a picture of my foster mother getting out of the car. When I got older work got in the way of my photography. Years after I left the foster home my foster mother told me she thought I would become a photographer because I was quite good at it. She was proud of the photo I took of my foster dad. She had it enlarged. She told me it was the last picture ever taken of him before he died of cancer. Several years ago, I had a friend who was a professional photographer (now deceased). We got together on Saturdays and picked a subject, such as old barns. Then we drove around snapping shots of the subject. The rule was if we saw something that would make a good photo, we snapped it. Then we critiqued the photos. All the pictures with my AC articles, except the Spokane Sun-God and my senior picture, were taken by me.
My mother (born in 1920, now deceased) was the person who always had the camera when she was a young adult and thanks to her persistence, we have pictures of people from her generation and era that we would never have had otherwise. Because I acknowledge the great value of those pictures, I guess I don't understand why people will not allow their picture to be taken. It costs absolutely nothing for a person to allow their picture to be taken by someone-- other than maybe a humbling for some people, and swallowing of pride and perhaps putting aside their low self esteem regarding their looks. I always had fuzzy hair and crooked teeth and felt self conscious about it, then in later years, I fluffed up and got pretty fat, so was self conscious about my looks but would never consider depriving somebody else the picture they requested. Just comes from the values my Mama had, I guess. I appreciate the article, though and a chance to hear somebody elses side of the story.
Cute article :) I'm not fond of having my photo taken either. Mostly because people tell me to smile and show my teeth and I hate the gap in my teeth.I use to have a problem with having my photo on AC for readers to see. I wondered if people would take me seriously when they found out what I looked like. Anyway, great article :)