Why is it some people don’t like having their photo taken? The rationale I’ve heard used is basically they don’t think they look good enough. I’ve heard this said by some of the most beautiful people I’ve ever known.
Take my wife, for instance (yeah, I know this sounds like the lead up to a corny vaudeville joke, but bear with me). She is absolutely gorgeous. Of course, I am completely biased, but she is, trust me. Anyway, she can’t stand her photo being taken. Whenever anyone points a camera at her, she either hides behind anything conveniently bigger or runs away screaming. Its not because she believes her soul will be captured on film or, worse still, on a memory stick to be downloaded into Photoshop and manipulated until her higher consciousness is unrecognisable. She just thinks she looks awful in photos. The one photo, yes one, she has of herself that she actually likes is about 6 years old and she has used it for every resume, media portrait or what-have-you since.
I would really like to get some more photos of her. But it is an exercise in frustration. I’ve been contemplating commando tactics in order to get a decent photo. The problem with this is it is quite hard to sneak up on her. She is a bit like a rhinoceros (not in stature, mind you). She is short sighted, but has very good hearing. And if she is startled, she will charge at the nearest moving object. She might be a 'little lady', but she can tackle like a front-row forward.
I’ve also considered maybe taking sniper shots of her from a distance. At least that way she’ll never hear me and I can blame the results on someone else. Either way, I want to capture some more images of her. The way I see it, life is just too short to let good memories fade. I want photos of her to continually remind me of the joy she brings into my life. I also want them to remind me of how lucky I am to have such a beautiful wife. Too often we take these sorts of things for granted, which is something I never want to do to her. She deserves better.