Hello and thank you for being a DL contributor. We are changing the login scheme for contributors for simpler login and to better support using multiple devices. Please click here to update your account with a username and password.

Hello. Some features on this site require registration. Please click here to register for free.

Hello and thank you for registering. Please complete the process by verifying your email address. If you can't find the email you can resend it here.

Hello. Some features on this site require a subscription. Please click here to get full access and no ads for $1.99 or less per month.

Have you ever looked at a photograph of yourself and were shocked at what you saw?

Either positive or negative. Since it is anonymous, you can be honest.

by Anonymousreply 109December 20, 2018 10:39 AM

Yeah, which is why I hate to get my picture taken.

by Anonymousreply 1March 5, 2012 3:27 AM

I was amazed by how fat I am and how poor my posture is. Seeing my photo was a wake up call.

by Anonymousreply 2March 5, 2012 3:33 AM

When I'm getting ready to go somewhere, I check the mirror and think I look fine. Later, when I see pictures of myself from that event and wonder why I left the house.

by Anonymousreply 3March 5, 2012 3:39 AM

constantly

by Anonymousreply 4March 5, 2012 3:43 AM

Most of the time.

by Anonymousreply 5March 5, 2012 3:43 AM

What r3 said.

So, what is more "true to life"? Mirrors or photographs?

by Anonymousreply 6March 5, 2012 3:44 AM

When I hit 40 is when my image died.

by Anonymousreply 7March 5, 2012 3:48 AM

I keep thinking I look awfully fat in photos. And at home, in the mirror, I look at my wrinkles and see my mother's face.

by Anonymousreply 8March 5, 2012 3:50 AM

Photographs I can deal with. I don't like them, but I can handle them.

It's mirrors in hotel bathrooms that really get to me. There something about the strange room and the different lighting that make me look like a monster. Then they love to put that damned full length mirror on the back of the door so you sit and stare at it while you're sitting on the toilet.

by Anonymousreply 9March 5, 2012 3:52 AM

I've realized that I'm just not photogenic. Like R3 said - how can the mirror show one thing and then pics say something different?

I hate getting my picture taken now.

by Anonymousreply 10March 5, 2012 3:56 AM

Yes, I didn't realize I had gotten so out of shape. An immediate diet resulted in losing 60 lbs. in six months. I kept that off for two years and then worked my way down another 15 lbs. to an ideal weight for running, pushups, etc.

by Anonymousreply 11March 5, 2012 3:57 AM

I am the opposite of photogenic and almost always look like shit in photos, so on the rare occasion that I look halfway decent, that's shocking. And even though I expect to look like shit in photos (and often refuse to look at them at all), I sometimes look even shittier than I imagined possible, so that's shocking, too. I've had the r3's experience many times.

by Anonymousreply 12March 5, 2012 3:58 AM

My sister has a picture of me with my niece and nephew taken many years ago when I was about 30. I recall back at that time thinking that I was not particularly good looking. But, seeing that photo now, I am quite surprised in a positive way and could only wish that I still looked like that.

And, pictures taken now, well, I'm not really shocked at how bad they are, because I pretty much expect it. (So, I try and stay behind, not in front of, the camera.) However, there are some pictures that capture an unflattering image or angle so particularly egregious that, even as jaded as I am, I cringe.

by Anonymousreply 13March 5, 2012 3:58 AM

Yes. Both.

by Anonymousreply 14March 5, 2012 4:03 AM

When I got in my 40's I started to look at my pictures and say, "Damn, when did my double chin get that big?"

by Anonymousreply 15March 5, 2012 4:06 AM

Yes. I look pretty good in the mirror (I think)and then I see the pictures. Horrific.

by Anonymousreply 16March 5, 2012 4:16 AM

DO you ever see a picture of yourself and do not remember taking it ? That happens more often now, when I have no recollection of that moment in my life.

by Anonymousreply 17March 5, 2012 4:17 AM

Welcome to the age of Facebook, Twitter, and your image instantly messaged all over cyberspace. Nothing like being tagged in an unflattering candid photo for all the world to see to build your self-esteem.

It's definitely made me think twice about my appearance before showing up for parties.

by Anonymousreply 18March 5, 2012 4:21 AM

Yes, surprised how truly handsome I can look.

by Anonymousreply 19March 5, 2012 4:27 AM

I'm exactly on the same page as r3 and r12. It sucks. I'm pretty sure that the mirror is a more reliable reflection, if you will, of reality.

Photos are, literally, flattened representations of three-dimensional objects, so they tend to slightly widen/smooth out/soften the angles of one's face. If you are gaunt or have a very pronounced bone structure in real life, photos may make you look more youthful and ideal (see pics of models w/o makeup at link to get a sense of how anemic and unnatural they must look irl). But if you have naturally softer features or full cheeks, etc, in real life, you'll look like a moon-faced goon in photographs. At least that's what this moon-faced goon tells himself.

The one way that photographs are more representative of reality than mirrors are is their accurate left-right orientation. See www.truemirror.com if you're interested in owning a mirror that shows you as other people see you.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 20March 5, 2012 4:41 AM

I saw a recent photo of myself from about 9 years ago, and i was shocked how red and pink and pouty my lips was.

now it's tar stained from tobacco smoke

by Anonymousreply 21March 5, 2012 6:18 AM

Yes. I'm always amazed at how ugly I think I am in photos. The guy looking back at me in the mirror seems fine.

Apparently full on, I'm okay, but my profile is revolting.

Whatever. Seeing pictures and videos of me at least helps me understand why I'll forever be single and unloved.

I wouldn't hit on me either.

by Anonymousreply 22March 5, 2012 6:22 AM

Well, I took a glance over at this photo on my mantel of myself, Madonna and Beyonce, which was displayed in a diamond encrusted frame. Nothing fancy...

...and, I was so moved by my reflection. I finally see the true beauty in me.

by Anonymousreply 23March 5, 2012 6:25 AM

Another one agreeing with R3.

by Anonymousreply 24March 5, 2012 6:44 AM

Yeah, over the holidays. I work out regularly and people often comment that they can tell I work out , so I knew I was in decent shape. However,when I look in the mirror all I see are my flaws (wide waist, big butt, a varicose vein running across my chest), so I haven't really paid attention to just how much my body has changed over the last four years. I wore a polo at our office Christmas party and I was surprised at just how buff I looked in the pics. A co-worker posted some shots on her facebook page and there were several comments stating that I looked like John Cena and asking if I was my friend's personal trainer. It's strange because I had still considered that type of physique a far off goal.

by Anonymousreply 25March 5, 2012 7:11 AM

[quote]See www.truemirror.com if you're interested in owning a mirror that shows you as other people see you.

Or you could just place two mirrors at 90 degree angle to one another if you don't want to pay $200+ for one of those gaudy truemirrors.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 26March 5, 2012 7:31 AM

[quote] Photos are, literally, flattened representations of three-dimensional objects, so they tend to slightly widen/smooth out/soften the angles of one's face. If you are gaunt or have a very pronounced bone structure in real life, photos may make you look more youthful and ideal (see pics of models w/o makeup at link to get a sense of how anemic and unnatural they must look irl). But if you have naturally softer features or full cheeks, etc, in real life, you'll look like a moon-faced goon in photographs.

Very true. The best photos of me were taken when I was 23, bone thin--damn near anorexic--after a very bad break-up. I can see those pics now and, in the full body shots, realize I looked like an Auschwicz survivor. But in the facial close-ups, I was like a male model: cheekbones, square jawline, etc.

The funniest part is a year or so later, I worked for a few years as a photographer. I never could get the female models to understand to what degree they'd overdone the dieting.

by Anonymousreply 27March 5, 2012 7:58 AM

I've had both positive and negative experiences with this. Back when I was younger, I was surprised to see how good I looked in photos, and how bad when I got past 40. I can't see past the dark circles in photos now, plus my face is a bit heavier, but I was pretty when I was a young'un.

by Anonymousreply 28March 5, 2012 8:06 AM

I think I'm a reverse anorexic. When I look in the mirror I think I look so skinny. But when I see the photos I realize I fat I really look to everyone. Mirrors lie.

by Anonymousreply 29March 5, 2012 8:07 AM

( Pbi R28 but Touche Velouette & facial exercises for. reals.)

by Anonymousreply 30March 5, 2012 8:10 AM

Like most posters I think I look okay in the mirror but it's a complete different thing in pictures. The iPhone pictures I take myself are alright but the rest...puh

There's only one picture that surprised me positively, it was taken at a coworkers wedding and I looked extremely good (if I can say so myself). Maybe it's because of the professional photographer, I don't know. But it still gives me some comfort whenever I see a bad pic of myself

by Anonymousreply 31March 5, 2012 8:10 AM

Yes iPhone images can be quite flattering and dreamy in that Polaroid picture way.

by Anonymousreply 32March 5, 2012 8:18 AM

I always look terrified like if I am about to be murdered or something.

The odd thing is people who look good in photos but awful in real life. I know a woman like that and it is kind of amazing.

by Anonymousreply 33March 5, 2012 8:19 AM

There is no way this won't sound like bragging but it's anonymous so whatever: I don't like what I look like in the mirror or in pictures, but people tell me that I am good looking (I don't elicit compliments or anything), and I don't mean on FB. I am never happy with my looks and I never see what everyone else (or at least many others) sees.

by Anonymousreply 34March 5, 2012 8:23 AM

iPhone pictures are amazing! I look so hot in them. Everyone should practice taking pictures of themselves on their iPhone. Don't just pose and take one shot. Just keep pressing the button as fast as you can and take multiple shots per second. Keep moving your head to get multiple angles, profiles, you looking away, etc. It's also good to do this while you're walking down the street to get some motion shots that look more casual.

Sent from my iPhone

by Anonymousreply 35March 5, 2012 8:41 AM

R35,

Well *I* rig my iPhone on a handsless harmonica holder to snap a stream of portraits of myself on busy sidewalks, al off guard and casual like.

by Anonymousreply 36March 5, 2012 8:51 AM

My gripe is friends who take photos without asking and then put them on FB without asking. And the photos are always unflattering ugh. I don't even take a person's photo until I check with them, it's just basic.

by Anonymousreply 37March 5, 2012 8:58 AM

The biggest shock I ever got was after my mom passed away. I was the the youngest of four, and our dad had passed away unexpectedly when I was in high school. I was now 21 and had moved back home to help my mom sell our family home. She died a month after I got there, and I was essentially stuck trying to fix up a large older four bedroom house, sort out the estate, try to get everything sold, work full-time, and deal with the loss of my mom. I'm a six ft tall male, and I was working a 40 hour week, and working on the house for hours every night after work. I didn't remember much about that time, but I apparently just wasn't eating that much. In the span of a few months I went from around 175 to 135 pounds, and the weird part was I never really looked at myself and noticed. After the house was sold and the estate settled, I finally decided to move to Florida and live with some friends. As I recovered, started eating more, and getting some sun, my grandmother sent me some pictures from a month before I moved. I was literally floored at how gaunt and emaciated I looked. I was a shell of my former vibrant self. I still have those pictures somewhere, and am still shocked I lost that much weight in the span of nine months.

by Anonymousreply 38March 5, 2012 11:28 AM

''See www.truemirror.com if you're interested in owning a mirror that shows you as other people see you.''I think I'd rather keep the last of my self-esteem.

by Anonymousreply 39March 5, 2012 11:37 AM

.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 40March 5, 2012 11:40 AM

I feel you R39. Imagine paying $2,000 for the full length version only to get the ugly truth.

Where can I buy the mirror that lies to me? Where can I hire an entourange to shield me from unpleasant truths?

by Anonymousreply 41March 5, 2012 11:46 AM

This weekend, two cousins mentioned that I look just like my mother. I'm a guy. My mental image of her is a 65 year old woman who is still healthy and a little pudgy. My immediate thought was that I have to increase my workouts.

For posed photos I give what I think is a 'happy' smile. It's a grimace. In candid photos, my Ricky Gervais fang makes my canines stick out and I hear banjo music.

Also, I don't pay much attention to my long pencil neck. When I'm thinner, it doesn't look as bad. When I'm pumped, it looks odd. I've never reached the point of fitness where my neck disappears.

by Anonymousreply 42March 5, 2012 12:12 PM

I know I'm unphotogenic, so when I'm getting my picture taken I always have a look of near-panic, which only makes things worse.

by Anonymousreply 43March 5, 2012 12:27 PM

I'm the same as the above posters: I think I look fine in the mirror, but when I see myself in photos I can't believe how different I look.

On a side note, a good friend of mine works in the entertainment industry in LA and sees a lot of celebrities. He told me you would not BELIEVE how different some of them look in person, and it's always for the worse, not better.

by Anonymousreply 44March 5, 2012 4:15 PM

I look better in photos than in real life. Especially if the photographer is standing in North Dakota.

by Anonymousreply 45March 5, 2012 4:24 PM

[quote]This weekend, two cousins mentioned that I look just like my mother. I'm a guy. My mental image of her is a 65 year old woman who is still healthy and a little pudgy. My immediate thought was that I have to increase my workouts.

Sweety, they probably meant you have the same eyes, nose or mouth or something like that. They sure didn't mean that you are pudgy and have lines all over the face. Don't worry.

by Anonymousreply 46March 5, 2012 4:42 PM

.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 47March 5, 2012 4:55 PM

I'm surprised at how many people can identify with R3 (including myself.) I thought it only happened to me. I was really deceived as a child. I had grandparents who continually told me I was so beautiful. I grew up believing I was very beautiful and couldn't understand why the rest of the world didn't readily agree and pronounce it often! Ha! I'd notice in pictures that I wasn't as good-looking as I thought, but it was easy to blame film, lighting, etc... in those prehistoric 1970s and '80s.

Then one day, in 1986, I went to have a portrait done, the first ever since childhood (I was about 19 or 20) and when it came back I could not believe my eyes. Not only was I not beautiful, but I was ugly! It was a total epiphany. No wonder the world had not paid its due to me. I was truly not attractive! Since then, I have hated 95% of all photos of myself and have also undergone all sorts of changes in weight, hairstyle, hair color, tan/not tan, etc... with marginal results. Finally, you have to own it and try to love it.

While I'm pouring my guts out (anonymously!), I will add that I still usually don't mind a mirror and often think I look good (until I see a photo), but if anyone else is IN that mirror with me, I cannot look at myself or I am suddenly repellent... Has anyone else ever had this phenomenon? I simply CAN NOT share a mirror with someone. Looking into it then is next to impossible and very uncomfortable.

by Anonymousreply 48March 5, 2012 5:19 PM

Years ago, a good friend of mine took a class in which every student was videotaped making a speech. My friend was devastated by how grotesque he thought he looked when he saw the video of himself.

by Anonymousreply 49March 5, 2012 5:26 PM

R48 I had the opposite experience. I was never told I was attractive growing up...in fact I was teased a lot. I even remember one kid calling me ugly (I couldn't have been older than seven but I STILL remember it). I took those things to heart. I remember first realizing I was gay around 5th or 6th grade and telling myself I'd never be able to attract a hot guy when I grow up.

Fast-forward to my first year in college when I got away from my old peers and began "coming out." Suddenly I was bombarded with gay guys telling me I was attractive and wanting to get with me. It was a totally bizarre and unexpected turn for me. It eventually went to my head a little which I'm not proud to admit. I'm getting older now so interest is dying down. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!

by Anonymousreply 50March 5, 2012 5:31 PM

R49 Video is awful because not only do you see yourself but you hear yourself too! I can't stand hearing my own voice on recordings, it's cringeworthy!!

by Anonymousreply 51March 5, 2012 5:32 PM

Photographs lie. I don't look 10 years younger in them.

There is something wrong with the technology.

by Anonymousreply 52March 5, 2012 5:37 PM

ugh. just got back from a wonderful aruban vacation, and a single photo has ruined the whole experience for me. one of the friends i was traveling with took a picture of the gorgeous pool / beachfront. i happened to be sitting at the edge of the pool, my back to the camera.

i was shocked to see the picture. i couldn't believe how bald i was. it was actually quite depressing, since i had no idea it was so advanced. my baldness is all in the crown, so i can't really see it in a mirror. since i can feel plenty of hair at the crown, i thought it was thinning but more or less decent coverage. that delusion was shattered.

even more shattering is that all the research i dove into as soon as i saw the picture indicates there's nothing that can be done about it. baldness on the crown is the most stubborn kind, and least susceptible to noticeable improvement.

by Anonymousreply 53March 5, 2012 5:41 PM

I was in a video a friend took and at first I didn't recognize myself. I looked smoking hot, and I never had a good self-image. That was very pleasant.

by Anonymousreply 54March 5, 2012 5:45 PM

I think that one of the reasons why we think we look worse in pictures than in the mirror is the asymmetry of the face that we get used to through years seeing it the way it is in the mirror, we don't recognize the flaws anymore. And then we take a picture that reverses the image and we see how asymmetrical it is. I was always so surprised why one of my front teeth looks a bit longer than another in photos, as I can't see that in the mirror at all, and now I tried to place two mirrors together at 90 degree angle and unfortunately I see it.

by Anonymousreply 55March 5, 2012 7:24 PM

I just looked at my partner in the mirror, then I looked at him while he was standing in front of me. I did this a few times. He looks the same to me.

by Anonymousreply 56March 5, 2012 7:30 PM

When you look at yourself in the mirror you're always seeing yourself from a fixed point (since your eyeballs are in your face). Pics, of course, are not always taken from that same vantage point.

by Anonymousreply 57March 5, 2012 7:36 PM

who's that pasty white fat guy? oh, nevermind it's me.

vodka and razorblades

by Anonymousreply 58March 5, 2012 7:36 PM

I was very shocked, OP.

I went to a party last weekend with some friends of mine and I saw the pics from that party last night. I was shocked to see that I actually looked 17 and not 19 which everybody mistakes me for. I am 58, OP, but apparently in photos I look 17, however, in person I look 19. It's weird, I know, but not surprising because I eat healthy, work out 7 days a week, and I use SPF 20.

I have made doubles an triples of these pictures and I posted them all over my fridge.

by Anonymousreply 59March 5, 2012 7:46 PM

Yes. I was doing a split on a tabletop at a dressy party!

by Anonymousreply 60March 5, 2012 7:59 PM

Here's something creepy: The whole time I was a kid, every time I looked in the mirror, I expected to see something different. I mean, drastically different, like different coloring, different height, and a different face. I wasn't exactly sure what my face was supposed to look like, but I knew it was really wrong, to the point that I avoided the mirror when I was a kid, I wouldn't even comb my hair while looking in the mirror.

My mom asked me once what I was supposed to look like, and I said, blonde and taller. I was about four or five at the time, and nobody in my family was light colored or tall, so there was no reason for me to want to look like that. I didn't particularly want to look different, I just knew my face was wrong. Never played with dolls or had blonde friends or family, so it wasn't Barbie-envy.

Now I know what I'm supposed to look like, but I didn't really stop getting surprised until about my forties. I wonder about reincarnation because of this.

by Anonymousreply 61March 5, 2012 8:10 PM

I actually look good in video--I think because I'm animated and smile a lot and have big, blue eyes.

The iPhone pics are another matter! I look cross-eyed, my forehead looks huge, my lips look thin, my nose is crooked, my chin's too pointy. Whoever looks good in those is lucky as hell!

by Anonymousreply 62March 5, 2012 8:54 PM

[quote]I wonder about reincarnation because of this.

Body dismorphic disorder?

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 63March 6, 2012 5:55 PM

Recently saw a pic of myself at age 20 a few weeks back. I thought to myself, "Damn, no wonder you were able to score so much cock back then."

Now (15 years later), not so much.

by Anonymousreply 64March 6, 2012 6:02 PM

All I can say is that I'm glad that there are pics of me in my 20s and 30s to prove what I once looked like. I still expect to see that person in the mirror or in photos but instead I end up seeing an old jewish serial killer and I am none of those. Oy!

by Anonymousreply 65March 6, 2012 6:20 PM

kill me

by Anonymousreply 66March 8, 2012 12:55 AM

omg, NOBODY likes how they look in pics??? I usually love how everyone else looks, but I guess we're our own worse critic. My teeth don't show when I smile-- has anyone had a lip lift that has helped that??? I want one!!!

by Anonymousreply 67March 8, 2012 1:17 AM

My photographs need to age. Once they are ten or more years older, I look great in them.

Whenever I look at photographs of myself, I am also invariably surprised to notice that my penis is bigger than I thought. (Even in class pictures, as a child.)

by Anonymousreply 68March 8, 2012 1:59 AM

R63, I wasn't unhappy about the way I looked, or my coloring. I actually liked my dark hair and eyes better than light hair and eyes. I liked being shorter too. I'm attracted to darker haired and -complected people myself.

It wasn't that I wished I was different, it's that I was surprised I wasn't different. Every time. I expected something else. I finally had to start picturing what I looked like, before I looked in the mirror, otherwise I never would have gotten over it.

by Anonymousreply 69March 10, 2012 9:22 PM

Loneliness thread:

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 70March 11, 2012 12:42 AM

My ugly body and face:

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 71March 11, 2012 12:43 AM

Nope. Not a photograph.

by Anonymousreply 72March 11, 2012 12:47 AM

The camera loves me, bitches! What can I say except I am truly gorge!

by Anonymousreply 73March 11, 2012 12:47 AM

I am actually obsessed with looking at myself in the mirror. Not because i am goodlooking (I'm average), but because my self-esteem is derived from. Depending on the lighting, I can go from being attractive to downright ugly. If i see that I am attractive, my self-esteem goes up and i feel good about myself. Then, when i look at another mirror, i realize how ugly i am and how much i want to get plastic surgery. Chasing after that high when you see yourself as attractive makes me obsessed with looking at myself in the mirror. Then, it goes downhill when I realize that I am ugly. Mirrors enable me to become bipolar. I think i need help.

by Anonymousreply 74March 14, 2012 11:55 PM

I understand, r69.

I'm female and whenever I happen to catch a glance of myself nude in a mirror I'm always a bit taken aback that I have boobs.

It's really weird and doesn't make any sense at all. I think of myself as a 10 year old boy. Then I see this woman in the mirror and it kinda freaks me out.

by Anonymousreply 75March 15, 2012 1:22 AM

Yes. My eye bags are much worse than I thought and easily add 10 years to my appearance.

by Anonymousreply 76March 15, 2012 1:25 AM

.

by Anonymousreply 77April 18, 2012 3:03 AM

Shortly after the photo is taken: I feel I look like a deformed gargoyle with a melting face.

After a few months, looking at the same picture: what was the fuss about? I looked amazing!

I have no idea why this is, but there you go.

by Anonymousreply 78May 7, 2014 1:24 PM

I don't understand. I get hit on constantly, told how hot and good looking I am, and in the mirror I think I look alright. But when I see myself in a photograph, I realize how truly ugly I really am and it depresses me.

by Anonymousreply 79May 28, 2014 2:08 PM

I look like a completely different person depending on the mirror.

by Anonymousreply 80May 28, 2014 2:11 PM

I've never considered myself to be good looking, so it was a shock to see some old photos of me when I was in my twenties and realize how fucking hot and gorgeous I was.

by Anonymousreply 81May 28, 2014 2:19 PM

Every fucking pickie snapped. Unphotogenic doesn't begin to describe.....

by Anonymousreply 82May 28, 2014 3:11 PM

If i see that I am attractive, my self-esteem goes up and i feel good about myself. Then, when i look at another mirror, i realize how ugly i am and how much i want to get plastic surgery.

MARY!

by Anonymousreply 83May 28, 2014 4:09 PM

R2, +1. Seeing myself starting to resemble my morbidly obese sibling spurred me to lose 40 pounds, reaching a goal weight of 142.

by Anonymousreply 84May 28, 2014 4:14 PM

[quote]I've realized that I'm just not photogenic.

I'm curious: Do people who say this think they look better in real life than they do in photos?

by Anonymousreply 85May 28, 2014 4:15 PM

Yeah, this year more than ever. I swear, when I was 45 I looked 40, now I'm 47 and look 50.

Especially in my neck. I'm skinny and starting to get that veiny "turkey neck" going on. Ugh hate it.

by Anonymousreply 86May 28, 2014 4:18 PM

Now that I'm old, I'm always shocked.

by Anonymousreply 87May 28, 2014 4:19 PM

What can they do about neck problems? Hands and neck, that's often where you show your age.

I did know a 70 year old man who had the hands of a 30 year old, that puzzled me. How did that happen?

by Anonymousreply 88May 28, 2014 4:22 PM

I look into the mirror and I think I look okay. I take a photo and WHAM!, I look like a mess. I don't get it. The mirror lies!

by Anonymousreply 89May 28, 2014 4:28 PM

I am always reassured of the fact that I'm 59 and look 29. Nothing shocking.

by Anonymousreply 90May 28, 2014 4:50 PM

R85

Had a pickie taken last week, showed it to someone, who commented "You look nothing like that". The camera is simply unkind to some, as in they're not at all photogenic.

by Anonymousreply 91May 28, 2014 5:01 PM

Which is why I have not let a picture of myself taken in 35 years.

by Anonymousreply 92May 28, 2014 5:22 PM

We had a family selfie taken and my sister in law just sent it to me. I look beyond hideous.

I am depressed.

by Anonymousreply 93November 23, 2015 12:53 PM

All the time. I do not do pictures. I marvel at the amount of photos these Instadouches take of themselves. Same douchey poses. I can count the number of photos of myself--as an adult-- on two hands.

And even God won't help any one who aims a camera at me. I will end them.

by Anonymousreply 94November 23, 2015 1:02 PM

When I was a boy I was very confident of my good looks and when I look at pictures of myself then I was a good looking kid.

But then I had the misfortune of going through adolescence and turning ugly. Like those cute child stars on sitcoms who you then see in those where are they now photos who look scary.

I didn't get the full import of this until I tried dating men in my late teens and got constant rejections.

Then I took a good look at myself in the mirror and saw that I wasn't my type either.

It totally floored me and as I have a strong sex drive and great emotional needs to love and be loved it sent me into a spiral of depression from which I've never recovered.

I never get my picture taken and honestly nobody ever asks me to be in one.

by Anonymousreply 95November 23, 2015 1:08 PM

Moving through life ... always felt fug though I was not, not at all. When I look at old photos I feel incredulous that I thought that way-but over and over my pics make me cringe still. Aging means I am now invisible to others it seems, and I've gotten used to not liking myself in photos. However I don't feel fug anymore..I believe the mirror. Sometimes I even look young (to myself). NOW what bothers me is my outfits...it happened last night...I've always dressed with care but lord! come off like a hipster Minnie Pearl in photos.

by Anonymousreply 96November 23, 2015 2:47 PM

I used to think I was the ugliest person in the world in my teens.

Looking at old pictures, I was really handsome!

by Anonymousreply 97November 23, 2015 3:26 PM

It seems to happen that looking at photos of oneself, somehow the 'ugly' recedes with time

by Anonymousreply 98November 23, 2015 10:39 PM

I'm fairly homely and have had very few pictures taken of myself.

At 22 I became invisible so I'm used to it but it still hurts if that makes sense.

Told my sister when I die am to be immediately cremated and my ashes thrown in a dumpster.

If there was a wake there would be very few pictures to display which annoyingly enough they have at all wakes now which they didn't have when I was younger. The pictures would stop stage 28.

Funny thing is I see a lot of pictures of people who look as shitty as I do on facebook smiling brightly for the camera and I think dear god no way in hell would I do that if I look like that which I do.

Oh my eyes my eyes.

Nobody would show up anyway except for possibly the few older blood relatives I had left and my sisters would be mortified by the poor turnout.

by Anonymousreply 99December 23, 2015 9:55 AM

I recently wrapped up a hard year in a foul, dirty part of China, saw some pics of me that were taken there and I looked horrible, disturbing.

(Once in a while I end up in pictures taken by professional photographers and I've been struck by how different I can look from one time to the next, anywhere from pretty decent to grim.)

by Anonymousreply 100December 23, 2015 10:35 AM

R100 I also recently returned from working in China - I swear I aged five years in the time I was there.

by Anonymousreply 101December 23, 2015 8:20 PM

I NEVER think about my looks. Ever.

But when I smoked and saw pictures of myself smoking I was always shocked at how bad I looked.

I'm fatter now, but cringe less seeing pictures of my fat belly than when I smoked

by Anonymousreply 102December 23, 2015 8:35 PM

I once cruised myself while walking towards a large mirror at the end of a hallway at a club. I nearly died laughing when I realized it.

by Anonymousreply 103December 23, 2015 9:10 PM

I like what I see in the mirror but not what I see in photos, don't understand how they can be so different.

Same with my voice, I think I sound just fine when I hear myself talk, but if I hear a recording of myself, it is like OH God who's voice is that.

by Anonymousreply 104December 23, 2015 10:15 PM

I know it’s an old thread but I need to vent about the fact that I resemble what is politely called “a character actor” (r. bafflingly hideous and old-looking).

All of the above, and it’s hit me again like it does every couple years after looking at photos from an event yesterday where I appear to have no jawline whatsoever and all the chin from my cheeks has migrated to sit weakly in a jowl (I actually have a fucking jowl at 26 years old). I’m a youngish female with a face like a doughy truck driver decades older. Or like Angela Lansbury (not young pretty Angela, 55+ Angela).

I have a little defined chin but it is so recessed it just sits in the formless puddle of neck/jaw. I have always hated this part of my appearance but it’s only getting more unbearable with time. I have never dated or had a social life and this has to do with it. I suspect it’s the result of a perfect storm comprising horrible white peasant/inbred/hick genes (half my aunts/uncles have it), tech-neck (been a computer addict since age 10), lack of exercise/yo-yoing weight (not ED or obesity, just swinging chubby to slim) and most importantly bad medication (A c cut ane, which messes with teen testosterone/estrogen) & bracing on my teeth (I was given the awful traintracks and I believe this ruined my jaw aesthetic and speech). I’m in deepening despair over it and feel a depression incoming.

I also have a rodent mouth (small inverted triangle shape with bucky teeth) and a long ‘horsey’ philtrim and forehead, plus my cheek and chin lines seem to ‘connect’ up like they do for people in their 50s/60s. I had a shitty adolescence as it is and being fugly only made it moreso. How the fuck will I ever get ahead or feel alright when I look this way and never had a young life? Through the camera lens I literally have become my fat provincial jowly mother and about 30 years too soon (she’s from a hot country and had a tight face at my age...) and have to look at myself in these photos next to my adorable sister who has a cut jaw and fine sculpted features at just two years younger. I’m eaten up with bitterness.

I can’t afford surgery or even basic fillers/lipo (poor hick family, like I said) and have no idea if the damage from dentistry/drugs is even reversible or correctable at all at this point. Am I just doomed to look like this?

by Anonymousreply 105December 20, 2018 8:20 AM

Yes. And as you and tell from my typing, you can easily guess the nature of the surprise.

by Anonymousreply 106December 20, 2018 8:41 AM

There are no photos of me as an adult outside of my passport photo and 2 other photos that were done by a photographer.

I refuse to be photographed. My friends know not to take my photo. If I'm at a dinner or event with friends and someone wants to take a group shot, I step away.

I'm not ugly... but I hate seeing myself in photos.

by Anonymousreply 107December 20, 2018 9:27 AM

It was a photograph that I wasn't even in that upset me the most. It was the 90s and I was out with friends having a good time. For those of you too young to know, there used to be club photographers who would take pics of good looking people and publish them in weekly street newspapers. The photographer came up to my friends and I and told us how hot we were and asked us to pose for a picture. It was a group of about 6. He holds the camera up, then puts it down, comes over to me and asks me to step out of the frame so he can get "a shot of just the hot guys".

I laugh about it now but it stung at the time.

by Anonymousreply 108December 20, 2018 9:31 AM

We are used to seeing a mirror image of our faces. Our faces aren’t exactly symmetrical so other people see you as different from how you think you look

by Anonymousreply 109December 20, 2018 10:39 AM
Loading
Need more help? Click Here.

Yes indeed, we too use "cookies." Take a look at our privacy/terms or if you just want to see the damn site without all this bureaucratic nonsense, click ACCEPT. Otherwise, you'll just have to find some other site for your pointless bitchery needs.

×

Become a contributor - post when you want with no ads!