Phobia of having picture taken

[Nack]

I hate pictures, i have brown marks all over my face from acne that have gone away... Camras nowadays get HD quality.

 

[myfibunny]

Re: i know just how you feal i woried about year 8 photo day for for 3 months

Wow. I wasnt sure anyone else out there hated getting their photo taken as much as I do. Im only 18 years old. This fear became evident when I was around 15 years old. I was fine with gotten my picture taken by a family member or friend, but when I had to get my school photo taken, a got an unexplicable fear. I disliked the way I looked at the time, but most of all, I was afraid that I would get nervous having people watching me and that I would not be able to smile because of being so nervous. This turned out to be true and my photo that year was of me not even smiling at all. Family get together were horrible. I was embarassed just because it was obvious to everyone how afraid I was when everyone had to stand together for a photo. I have never been able to understand this fear or why it occurs. I also suffer from social anxiety disorder at the present time which is very painful. THats my story.
Julie

i know just how you feal i woried about year 8 photoday for 3 months then fainted on photoday
the other girls constantly teazed me saying i was scared of photo day i was sent to the school photototgraphy company cause
i had not had a photo taken on photoday
i had a full nervous brake down i have never bean so scared verry scary being in a photo studio for the first time no wonder litle kids get scared

the photographer was realy nice he relised how scared i was he was one of the few people i have told about two prevouse experience tat caused me to colapse on photoday he he helped me cope with my fear in a way that wasnt scary
his daugter had a simalar problem
i have never had another problem with photoday infact im still working with the same photographer wilfred 15 years later he has taken lots of photos in the studio and on location i never even get nervous now he is a verry good photograher we have an incredable trust beteen us he is now a friend of our family

a good profesional photographer should be be able to get you to relax and get you to smile in a natural way they should also be able to comunicate with you and gain your trust in a short space of time if you hate having photos taken its ok to tell them you wont be hurting there fealings and they may be able to help you myfi /quote

 

[jaim38]

I used to not have a problem with my picture taken. But this phobia developed several years ago when I was at a party and someone took a group picture, which had me in it. Afterwards we looked at the pictures and man, I noticed how ugly I was. My nose was wider than normal, my lips didn't go well with my face, and my hair was...just weird looking! That's when I realized how unphotogenic I was. Nowadays, I avoid close up shots but I'm ok with long distance shots.

 

[myfibunny]

its nothing to be ashamed of when i was in year 8 i blacked out on photo day
while waiting in the line for indiviual photos and then again when i was sent downto the photographers i felt realy silly the photographer sugested i tell him what was causing my fear
it was a past bad experience he was realy smpathetic he helped me get over my fear he was so nice

he allways took more time to make saure my school photos were perfect
he is so nice he retired last year i worked with himfor 15years im still imbaresed
about the time in year 11 when i froze up cause i was so nervous i still feal bad because the photographer was being so nice trying to get me to smile and i couldn't
the photo was so bad it was funny i look realy angry i also have photos he took in studio whare i look like im about to crymg::

you nead to talk to the guy who took the photo of you he might be fealing just as bad as you are and you can put the anxiety behinde you if he is nice as you say he wont be ofended and you will stop neading to avoid him

 

[myfibunny]

Hi, I've always hated my picture taken, just can't stand it. I don't really know why i hate it, i just don't like seeing myself in them and i hate when other people keep photos of me.

I avoided yearbook pictures in highschool, but a couple of years i couldn't, I hated seeing myself in them. My dad loves to take pictures, I dislike how he would always try to take them of me even though he knows i hate it.

get a camera and take some bad photos of him

 

[theoutsider]

I hate the majority of the pictures I take. At work we had to take a picture for our employee badges. They save the same pictures to their files for us. Mine is the worse picture I have EVER taken. So, you know what? My company puts our pictures on the company website every year on our anniversary dates. Mine is coming up next month and I do NOT look forward to logging on and seeing my horrendous picture everyday for about four weeks. I hate it so much that I was hoping to have left the company by the time my next anniversary came around. It's a SA sufferer's nightmare!

 

[Phoenixx]

I've had this phobia long before I've even dealt with social anxiety. The first memory I have of having my picture taken, I was 3 and playing with my brother in our little kiddie pool we had at the time and my mom was watching us and smiling. I remember seeing her taking pictures, of course I didn't exactly know what she was doing, but I remember loathing it and feeling so self-conscious and just stopped what I was doing and getting out of the pool. Growing up since then I've loathed pictures and cameras. As a kid I remember cringing and almost wanting to cry when either seeing my picture or having someone take my picture. In a lot of my child photos I'm half cowering and half covering my face and/or looking down. Now when I look at them, I don't feel I looked so bad after all. I still feel a surge of panic whenever someone breaks out a camera, I start shaking and my breathing gets all shallow. Last year or so I tried conquering that fear and challenging myself by taking selfies. I tried doing it for a week and gave up because it was so emotionally exhausting and I couldn't stand looking at my face anymore. I tried it again months later, but I still couldn't keep up with it. I even deleted almost all of my selfies at the time (not that I had alot to begin with) because I hated myself so much. Recently though I've since picked up trying it again and actually tolerated it a little bit better. Still can't manage to even post a picture anywhere, not even my Facebook. I've always wondered how people can have a face as their profile picture and see it every day, multiple times a day, when they log in and not be bothered by it. :idontknow:

 

[Graeme1988]

Aye! Ah hate huvin' ma picture taken. F**kin' loathe it, man.

Huvin' a face that rarely smiles isnae great, fakin' a smile when yer no' in the mood tae smile is even worse, though. But ye cannae say: "Ach! Just... F**K right off!" Can ye? That's no very nice is it?

Ironically, takin' a picture o' masel' - am totally fine wi'. Probably because am the one taken the photo, eh? :ironicsmile:

 

[myfibunny]

Hi. I'm not sure that I'm posting this in the correct spot, but I'm going to give it a go. The moderator can surely move it to the proper place if I'm wrong, right?

Anyway, I'm trying to find someone with the same problem as me that can give me some advice as to what works for them. I've had a phobia of having my picture taken since I was just a toddler. Actually, it started when I was a baby according to my mother. I would scream blue murder if anyone pointed a camera in my direction. In my toddler years nothing changed. My parents don't have very many pics of me during that time because the ones they do have show me mainly with red swollen eyes and cheeks because of all the crying. Elementary shool years were a little better, but not much. Teen years about the same. Twenties same. As long as I was out with friends, having fun, I could handle having my pic taken, but only if it was very quickly done. No posing, no adjusting, no stress. Family get togethers became a horror for me. I dreaded going.

I know some of the problem stems from the way my parents dealt with me when I was very young - they got very mad. Picture taking became a horrendous ordeal because my parents did not understand how difficult it already was for me, and they just made it ten times worse.

Anyway, back to the present. I'm in my thirties now. I'm okay with handling cameras, I'm okay with seeing the pics of me afterward (tho' 75% of the time I don't like them), and I'm okay with other people seeing the pics. It's the process itself that is the problem. My worst experience was just over a year ago. My boss decided she wanted pictures of the staff to put on the wall in our reception area (I work in an animal hospital). One of our clients is a professional photographer, and brought all of his equipment with him - backdrop, lighting, etc. I decided it would be best if I went first so that I didn't have to wait and wonder when my turn was going to be (negative anticipation not good). Bad decision as it turns out. He took forEVER getting the lighting the way he wanted it, not to mention my positioning. It was turn your head slightly to the left, now lift your chin just a tad, no not that much, now smile, that's not a smile, and it went on an on... When I saw the pics several days later I realized that even though I was trying to smile, I actually looked angry. Needless to say, no pic on the wall. Anyway, back to the story. I ended up in fight or flight - actual panic attack mode, and I've never done that before. I would like to NOT repeat it! I really feel for those of you who deal with this on a more regular basis. Anyway, I had to leave the hospital. I was shaking, nauseous, sweaty, I felt a migraine coming on, my heart rate was sky high, as I'm sure my blood pressure was, and I know I wasn't thinking straight. To this day, I just have to hear his voice in the reception area when he brings his little dog in, and my heart rate goes up. I don't even have to actually see him or be in the same room. It's too bad really because he's a very nice fellow. I just can't talk to him about it and why I seem to be avoiding him every time he comes.

I'm trying to desensitize myself by allowing only good (and quite quick) picture-taking experiences, but it doesn't seem to be making a lot of difference. It's still really difficult. I'm not sure where to go for help. I've never met anyone else with this problem, nor have I actually even heard of someone else with it. I'm sure there's someone somewhere... :?

Sorry for the long story. I just wanted to explain where I'm coming from. If someone has some experience with this and can give me some advice, that'd be awesome! I won't be on computer again, though, until Monday now, so won't be able to respond 'til then. Thanks so much for letting me get that all out!

[/QUOTE]=myfi

i had a simlar exerience whe i was in year 8 i woried about photo day for 3months we had to have individual photos taken i while iwaiting in line i started having apanic atack when ingot to thefront of the line i blacked out

i was sent down to the school photographers studios with some year
12 girls they told me horror stories so by the time i got to the studios i was a
scared mess

and broke down i waited down stairs with the the asistant photographer
who told me none of the horror stories were true the other photographer
came out and stood waching me im sure he was thinking what a stuped woose i was then he went up stairs to the studio to take photos of the year 12 girls the year 12vs came down they were sent streight to the buss
the other photograper came back down after promising me he wouldnt push me in to having photos taken he took me up stairs to the studio

he convinced me to tell him what i was woried about and what was worying me
when i was in hospital with cancer the press photographers used to pick on me one time i had just had a bone marow byopsy done i allso had no hair and press photographers were waiting out side
i tried to get away to a pasage i knew i could escape from the press came after me i fell over my iv cord pulling the neadle out i was in a lot of pain blood went every whare i ran to the door but it was locked i ended up trying to hide in the corner agaist the wall
the press photographer told the nurse i pulled the neadle out they put the neadle back in it hurt the nuse said it served me right for pulling it out it became a mental barier i had nightmares and brake downs and flash backs

whare it was like reliving the night mare

the photographer said it was terible that people had bean so mean to me and could understand why i had panic atacks and black outs he said he was sorry for scaring me on photo day he was so nice we discussed ways to solve myfear problem he told me if i had a problem photo day to come and tell him and sugested i go last on photoday
when other girls wernt around to embaress me and put me off i have worked with the photographer for 15 years he took a lot of photos for me free of charge he is like a friend of our familynow there is a total trust between us now

marcia try and talk to the photographer if he is nice he will under stand he probable feals as bad as you do you might feal beter and not have avoid him
confont you fear

 

[myfibunny]

Re: Anonymous;1669

Wow. I wasnt sure anyone else out there hated getting their photo taken as much as I do. Im only 18 years old. This fear became evident when I was around 15 years old. I was fine with gotten my picture taken by a family member or friend, but when I had to get my school photo taken, a got an unexplicable fear. I disliked the way I looked at the time, but most of all, I was afraid that I would get nervous having people watching me and that I would not be able to smile because of being so nervous. This turned out to be true and my photo that year was of me not even smiling at all. Family get together were horrible. I was embarassed just because it was obvious to everyone how afraid I was when everyone had to stand together for a photo. I have never been able to understand this fear or why it occurs. I also suffer from social anxiety disorder at the present time which is very painful. THats my story.
Julie

[ quote myfibunny i can i can totaly sympathize with you i had simlar isues
with school photos when i was younger and had cancer the press photo graphers continualy chased me i had continual nightmares about the time they chased me and cornered me i worried about year 8 photo day for 3 months i ended up having a panic atack and blacking out on year8 phot day
i ended up being sent down to the school photographers studios

i expected the worst but insted of pushing me through a photo shoot i couldn't
cope with he got me to talk about the nightmare i had caused by press photographers he was realy understanding

was the same every photo day people pulling fun at people having photos taken the photographer sugested i come back at the end of the day when there was no one to put me off and he could take more time to get my photos right i suffer from panic atacks but i take medication to manage the problem