Last month at my native comedy membership, I settled in for what the poster promised could be a four-act night. One face seemed notably recent and youthful. When that comedian took the stage, although, he had an additional 20 years, 40 kilos and considerably much less hair. In reality, I did not acknowledge him in any respect – and questioned if I’d turned as much as the flawed venue.
This kind of temporal whiplash is not new to me. As a journalist, I’ve been ambushed by outdated headshots extra occasions than I care to recollect. I’ll prepare to satisfy somebody for an interview, armed with their social media profile pic, scan the café for that face, solely to grasp the particular person waving at me bears solely a passing resemblance to their official picture.
Is this as a result of folks cannot afford a brand new photoshoot? Sometimes, possibly, however undoubtedly not all the time. When I used to work on mass-market print magazines within the Nineties, PRs for celebs of their thirties and forties would regularly ship me headshots that had clearly been taken of their twenties. These stars had been family names, continually on TV and everybody knew what they seemed like. So who had been they attempting to idiot?
We all do it
Before I get too high-handed, though, I should admit my own sins. Yes, I used the same profile picture across social media for seven years. When I finally updated it, someone commented, “Oh, you’ve changed your hair.” Reader, I had not changed my hair. I had changed my face. Time had changed my face, the way time rather insists on doing.
So what’s actually going on here? Part of it, I suspect, is simple vanity dressed up as pragmatism. That shot from 2008 really was rather good, wasn’t it? The lighting was perfect. We looked energised, about ten pounds lighter. “It still looks like me,” we tell ourselves, squinting a bit. “Essentially.” This is the same logic that keeps unused gym memberships active and expired passports sitting in drawers.
There’s also a curious kind of brand anxiety at play. We worry that changing our image means changing our identity; that people won’t recognize us, won’t find us. As if we’re Dorian Gray in reverse, and updating our portrait will somehow age us in ways that simply existing hasn’t already managed. Never mind that people we actually know have been watching us age in real-time.
Feelgood factor
The short version is this: when it comes to representing ourselves, we prefer comfortable fiction to uncomfortable fact. We choose the image that makes us feel good over the one that’s actually accurate. We berate influencers on Instagram and TikTok for trying to present a perfect, idealized version of themselves, but we’re actually doing the same thing – just with less Facetune and more time travel.
So maybe it’s time we all took a good, hard look at our profiles. Not to obsess over every new line or grey hair, but to ask ourselves: would I recognize this person in a crowded café?
If the answer’s no, it’s time to update. Your audience deserves to know who’s actually turning up. Even if – especially if – that person looks a bit more lived-in than they used to.
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Ready to update that pic? Make sure you’re using one of the best cameras for portraits and the best lens for portraits. And check out our portrait photography tips, too!