I rarely like pictures of myself. I am my own worst critic. Heartbreaking: if I described myself to a stranger or even on here, you’d say, “wow - she sounds beautiful.” Typing this out makes me tear up. My DH tells me I’m beautiful. I get called a beautiful person inside and out all the time, yet I don’t look at pictures of myself and see beauty.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, all the time. It sucks.

The problem, likely is that your face is not symmetrical. when you see yourself in a mirror it is your reflection or your face flipped; when you see a photograph, it is your actual face in the same orientation as you appear to others.

if your face is symmetrical, these two would be the same. If your face is not symmetrical then the two are different. You are used to seeing yourself as the face in the mirror, so the other one in the photo looks distorted (ie, “ugly”).

I look better in photos than in person. Trust me, your problem is better than mine!

Since we're sharing.

Once we took a joint family vacation when I was about 6 months post partum. I was actually feeling great about my appearance when we went -- I'd lost a ton of weight, had successfully treated my PPD, and was just very happy to be at the beach with my baby and our friends.

About a week after the trip, our friends sent us a ton of photos they'd taken, mostly of the kids and a few of our family together. But there was one photo in there of me standing in the surf with the baby. It's in profile and the file was large so I had to scroll down in the email to see it. It was pretty much the least flattering possible angle of a postpartum body in a bathing suit, plus a bad angle on my profile that made me look like I had a receding chin, and the glare of the sun looked awful on my skin (I'm pale and don't tan at all, so I spent the week slathered in sunscreen and wearing hats and cover ups).

It was probably the worst I have ever felt about myself in my life. I literally cried when I saw it. I think they sent it because it was a pic of me and the baby on our own and like a lot of moms I don't get a lot of those. But it was such a bad picture. Even though I intellectually know it was just a bad photo, that no woman is excited about seeing her pregnancy pouch in profile a few months post partum, that everyone has bad angles and bad lighting, it was such an ego blow.

It's been years and I still feel horrible just recalling the existence of this photo (which I of course deleted and never showed to a single soul). Photography can be brutal!

I took a picture of my (older) friend this week who hates pictures of herself (“I’m so fat and old!”). She was laughing and snuggling a dog, and it was so, so beautiful and it made me so happy because it reminds me of her and how much I love her. Point is: only you see the “ugly”, people who love you don’t see that, they see your spirit and joy.

Yes, but I just accept that I am generally in photogenic. I’ve always gotten compliments IRL and I look good in the mirror so…

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Ugh so glad to hear others have this issue. But I’m sorry you also deal with it. I just do not look right in photos. It drives me crazy.

On the other hand I always think about the people I know who have it the other way-for some reason always look better in photos than they do in person. And I feel like that’s probably worse somehow?

I'm photogenic - and usually this is sort of a non issue, except for the time when 2 of my in-laws said to my face, you are "SO photogenic, no really, just SO photogenic" and then literally laughed until tears run down their faces. That experience was pretty unpleasant. Probably for all of us, just having people who love us & support us & don't fixate too heavily on our flesh suits is the ticket to happiness. Sorry about the photos though - I don't always like my pics either and a bad one can really shock you!

Anonymous wrote:Me too. So fat. So ugly.

Same. I’m working on the fat, but I will never be attractive. I avoid photos like the plague.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, and the version of me in my phone's front facing camera is even worse!

The very worst. Truly awful. Pls let there be a filter in the near future.

Op here. I guess I should be happy I met my husband in person. Because online dating would be hell for me. It’s so weird that I can look so different in pictures than I do in real life. And to the pp about the passport. I’m ashamed of it but when I know I have to have a picture taken (for work, license, passport etc…) I have paid to have my hair and makeup done because the thought of having a terrible semi-permanent picture of me scares the heck out of me. At least if I put in some effort I feel like there is a chance it will come out looking slightly ok. That being said, I’m still never happy even when I put in that effort and money.

You aren't the only one. Some people just look terrible in pictures. I look better in pictures than I do in real life. Some people photograph well, some don't.

I almost cried when I saw my new passport photo. It truly shocked me. That is not what I see when I look in the mirror.

Anonymous wrote:Am I really that ugly in person? In general I hate all pictures of myself. But honestly, I feel like I look like a completely normal person in general but somehow in every picture I look so so bad. It’s unbelievable.

Please tell me I’m not the only one.

I hear you. Same for me. I don't know if I'm highly critical, not photogenic or just aging horribly.

I good photo takes a huge amount of effort. I am a very nice looking person (Maybe a 6-7.5 on a scale of 10) who looks like a 4 in pictures. I had professional headshots done with Kristi Sherk and I look like an 8. But the lighting, the pose, the makeup, all make a HUGE difference in photos.

Yes, and the version of me in my phone's front facing camera is even worse!