Whenever I get on Facebook I feel depressed. I seem to spend most of my time untagging myself in pictures so my third grade boyfriend doesn’t see me looking like I have four chins and a lazy eye. To make matters worse, it seems everybody else is beautiful, photogenic, and having the best time ever. Given that I’m generally having a decent time and am at least moderately attractive, I believe the problem is the pictures.
Upon closer examination, most photogenic people (by that I mean anyone under twenty-five) have a sort of signature look, the pose they do in every picture—whether it’s on “The Great Wall” or at their grandmother’s house—that they know makes them look fabulous.
I have no look. I have tried to create one, but I just end up looking pained. I figure it’s time to go the experts.
First on my list is my friend Kari. She’s a twentysomething who has mastered her own signature pose and looks good in every picture she takes.
“My pose was inspired by the Olsen Twins,” she said, “And it became kind of a joke: ‘Let’s do our Olsen Twins pose!’” She tried to coax me into trying it myself, with this advice:
1. Tilt your chin slightly downward.
2. Get a higher camera angle.
3. Be willing to pose for a lot of pictures till you find the look that works.
4. Hmmm. Her pictures still look better than mine.
Next up, Don Phillips, a fashion photographer. He says that working with models requires that you pump them up and make them feel like a superstar. When he works with regular people, he gives them the simplest instructions—down to earth things to do, things they can relate to—to get them to have fun. His advice for my shots:
1. Tilt your head—just a slight incline—to look sassy and fun, a happy-go-lucky kind of look.
2. For more of a pout, imagine your boyfriend has been away for a month. Now he comes back and wants to watch football. Imagine the look you’d give him.
