Taking portraits

I absolutely hate taking portraits of myself. But it is unavoidable because you need it everywhere every few years. I have had some of the most disastrous portraits taken and used in various IDs. The only consolation is that, those IDs are the laughing stocks of my friends. I guess I ought to be thankful for the joy they bring.

In most of of my portraits I look pretty pissed. I often am as it is an unpleasant process. In my grade 9 TTC ID card, for some reason I had my winter scarf on and when I was asked to look at the camera, instead of lifting my head and looking ahead, I simply looked up. The effect was quite comic / murderous. A few years back, for one of my health card mugshots, my mom made me put on lipstick. Turns out, the health card uses black and white photo so I ended up having smokers’ lips. Not to mention all the pictures where the head just looks like it does not belong to the neck.

This is not really a problem specific to me. The problem is with how bored those portrait photographers are and how little they care about taking a proper shot. If I were in there shoes, I would be bored too. So, no complains there.

The level of care I have taken with these ID shots have gone downhill significantly over the years. Here are my lazy logic:

1. Driver’s License: When I am pulled over for whatever reason, I am sure I would be distressed out of my mind. I drive like a maniac as it is 😛 Therefore, to prove my identity, its better if I look distressed on the license. Although, this could have potentially be problematic while getting into bars or casinos where they look for IDs for age verification. But, I can always look distressed at the thought of not being able to get in
2. Health Card: I hate going to the doctor’s. So, if I am seeing a physician or worse yet, at the hospital, I am unlikely to look all made up
3. Passport: This one is tricky. Because one of every trip is always more enjoyable than the other. However, having a shitty picture just gives me another excuse to be sloppy
4. Access cards for day to day use (example, school ID or office): In these IDs you want to look how you typically look. I once told my colleague, I would look so much worse with a shaved head and her response was, “Really? You think so?” with a raised eyebrow

I recently realized it has been 10 years since I blogged. I cannot even recall what I used to write about. I kind of feel like I forgot how to conclude things. So, I will just leave it here…

P.S. The featured image is from here. This is probably my favourite baby picture of all time. The kid represents how I feel inside when I am in front of that camera.