Why Do Women Hate the Camera?

Do you count yourself in the numbers of people, more specifically women, who hate to take pictures and shy away from the camera?  If you’re not one, I’m sure you may know someone who does feel this way.  It's heartbreaking to see beautiful and remarkable women overlooking and disregarding themselves and refusing to be photographed.  As women, why do we evade the camera?  Why do we neglect future generations from seeing pictures of us by refusing to celebrate our beauty today, so our grandchildren and their children may be able to reflect on us in a wall portrait?  

There are countless reasons I typically hear, but these are the three reasons I hear by and large when talking to Moms in Northern Virginia and the surrounding areas.
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#1.  I don’t like my ______________________ (fill in the blank).

My weight, my smile, my hair, my shape, my age – you name it; it's been said.  We all have something about ourselves we’re not fascinated about; however, this shouldn’t stop us from celebrating our unique beauty.  It doesn’t matter how young or old we are, we will find something about ourselves we would like to change.  I’ve seen thin young women wanting to be thinner and older women wanting to be younger.  The point I’m making is we must celebrate who we are where we are, or we will miss a wonderful moment to immortalize a time of our history. 

Have you ever looked backed upon old pictures of yourself or other family members and compared the things that have changed since then?  How do you feel looking back at old pictures?  Do you feel a since of gratitude being able to see a piece of history?  Do you remember what you didn’t like about yourself during that time by looking at those pictures? When I look back at my pictures, I think, wow, that’s cute.  If you’ve had a significant amount of weight loss, I’m sure it’s a moment of pride being able to look back and reflect upon the success you’ve had during your weight lose journey.  Can you imagine not having the two periods of time to reflect back upon and see the success?

I hope you’ve never had a since of regret.   This lack of regret will be the same feeling at any age if you're not able to look at pictures from another time in your life or not being able to share pictures of yourself with future generations.  Without the perspective of reflection, we wouldn’t be aware of the changes that have been made and how our faces and bodies gradually change.  
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I get it.  After pregnancies and other life changes, we don't necessarily feel our best...I totally get it.  However we shouldn't allow our feeling to hider future generations from seeing all of our beauty.  I know you're beautiful! 
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#2.  I just want pictures of the kids.

“I just want pictures of my kids…not me.”  I hear these words quite often as well.  The last time many women have a professional portrait taken was on their wedding day; that’s sad.  After writing that statement, I realized many women don’t hire a professional photographer for their wedding, so having a wedding portrait as the last professional photograph may not be a true statement. 

Why do we feel the need to get new outfits for our children to be photographed, but we feel and believe it’s vain for us to include ourselves in our family's?  When our children grow up, they’ll be thankful to see pictures of themselves as children, but I guarantee you they’ll wish you were included in the photographs. 
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It’s a dream for all family photographers to give every woman and their family the experience of seeing herself in portraits with the people she loves most that spans over her lifetime and future generations.  Can you imagine being in your 80s and looking back at your wedding pictures, maternity, birth of your first child, subsequent children, significant military ceremonies, and more.  Now imagine your children and their children looking back at your wedding portrait or a portrait of you when you were pregnant with them.  I wish all women could see their life story unfold and appreciate their beauty throughout each stage. 

Now imagine what questions and thoughts your children and grandchildren will have if they don't and can't see pictures of you.  I don't have to imagine this; it's my reality.  My children ask to see pictures of me with my parents and i'm unable to show them.  My parents were not and still are not fond of the camera, so I don't have a family picture to show them.  Which bring up a lot more questions for them.
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#3. The camera doesn’t like me…I’m not photogenic.

When someone brings out a cell phone or a camera to take a picture, what do you do?  Do you duck and hide or put your hand in front of your face?  Unfortunately, many people would rather have a medical procedure, or a tooth pulled at the dentist than have a photograph taken of themselves.  Because we’ve come up with the notion we’re not photogenic, whenever we see pictures of ourselves we hate them.  There are reasons for this unsavory reaction towards ourselves that have nothing to with being photogenic. 

Could it be that we don’t like our pictures because it’s something about ourselves we’re uncomfortable with and don’t like? 
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As stated earlier, we all have something we’re not fond of, however, we should not pass up the opportunity to have memories taken regardless of how we may feel now.
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It is fitting to have beautiful family portraits not just of your children but also with you and your spouse included to remember every aspect of your family’s legacy.  Always remember there are those who love you, who one day will want to look for photographs of you.  From my personal experience, I can tell you when my Mom and her siblings lost their precious mom a few months ago, the first things my Mom and her siblings looked for were photographs of my Grandmother.  There's simply no price my aunts and uncles would place on having a beautiful family portrait hanging on the wall with all of them and their mother.  Unfortunately, this would be one of my greatest and deepest regrets is not having photographs of her and with her.
 

I truly hope you know and realize how unique and stunning you are.  I invite you to experience a family portrait session with Tamieka Smith Photography.  Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. is filled with countless beautiful scenery options, that your family can benefit from and have a great and wonderful time creating family memories.

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I would be honored to photograph your family's memories.  Contact Tamieka to schedule a complimentary consultation for your family today by calling (571) 250-5073 or by emailiing [email protected].  ​