Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I never allowed pictures of myself to be taken. I have just a few pictures to show for a lifetime. Now, that I've changed so much, I feel bad about this.
How about you?

I have a few from when I was little and just only a couple in the teens. I always wondered why I HATE it to have my picture taken.

Now I know, and im destroying those pictures little by little.

I voted "Tons" even if technically... "I" don't have them.
They are in the hands of friends and family for the most part.
I've always been camershy, but what can I say, I'm the sort of person that stays knowingly in the closet for years just to "not upset people".. so obviously, I don't prevent my picture from being taken, even if I hate it.

I allowed as few as possible.

I also allowed as few as possible. The few pic.s of my evil twin may scare the hell out of you.

I don't have any.  I only have a handful of myself as I am now.  I hate seeing myself in a picture AND I'm usually the one taking pictures.  So, as a result, there aren't too many of me in either incarnation in existence. 

Cindi

I also hate having my pic taken.  I don't like how I look in pics - not because of any dysphoria, just because I'm an ugly bastard.  In my case, it's vanity :)

I have none. My parents had none - I took care of that when I was about 15. The only pictures that escaped the purge were in the hands of other people or the ones of me en femme.

I don't have many.

I have from when I was about 5-7, going to my first communion, wearing boy clothes and looking totally feminine with curly blonde hair. (No longer alas). Another when I was leaving home for University, the last time I lived there, I'm wearing girls pants, a tight purple sweater, a pushup  bra and my hair was curled in a page boy look. I'd already been banned from being female by my M&D, hadn't realised I managed to sneak this one in. Probably they hadn't realised until it was developed, yes folks pre digital. You had develop pics. Strange world.

Cindy

I have maybe a handful of my evil twin, mostly when I was younger.  My ex has a couple.  But I never really like my picture being taken.  I always looked so sad in them.  Gee I wonder why?  ::)


Janet

TONS!

Family were camera happy. Ex was SUPER camera happy (I have pics of used ash trays and blown light globes... yay digital).

I hate having photos taken, but I always want to see them. It's like looking at a car crash. Becides, I like the pics of other people, I like to remember the events of the past, and I like to see how far I've come.... in an odd sort of way.

I've got tons (or at least a lot).  Culling my photo collection is real low on my priority list at this point. :)  And most of them are safely stored away in severl boxes that are who-knows-where.  I figure I'll dig some out in the dead of some winter for a good laugh. :D

- Kate

All of them.  I never get rid of stuff like that.  Its the history, no matter if I like them or not.  But I tend to take the pictures, so there are fewer of me then the people around me.

Lots.  Most from childhood and college, not so much from adulthood, as I was usually the one behind the camera.

While on vacation the kids and I were looking at pics on the computer from past vacations.  In one I was driving the RV with a dog on my lap.  My son says, Oh my G*d you were a WOMAN!!  And we all cracked up.


Jay

Most of the pictures of me were taken by my parents when I was young (0-12) after that I pretty much avoided cameras.  My wife has a few from our vacations, but usually I held the camera and of course the wedding pictures (I haven't been allowed to destroy them).

And since my transition my wife hasn't wanted to take any pictures, so there are only a few that I took myself.  I'm not good at posing for self pictures.

Sarah L.

Quote from: finewine on August 04, 2009, 03:08:47 AM
I also hate having my pic taken.  I don't like how I look in pics - not because of any dysphoria, just because I'm an ugly bastard.  In my case, it's vanity :)

Same here ::) I only have a few pics of me before, the only difference is hair length though at the moment :D

I have lots of pictures of me before transition. I love taking photos, and my ex & I used to take them all the time. I am not ashamed, of my twin or my past in that regard I just wont be putting them up for other people to see.

Jay

Hate having pictures taken by my parents. They still have a collection. However I am keeping track of my development on my own. I can't memorize how I look (and even if I can, there are better things to do.) The way I see it, it may be disappointing to see myself now but the only reason I tolerate it is because I have a firm belief that I'm moving out at 18 and starting HRT.

SilverFang

Tons. I'd actually gone through a long period where I didn't take pics of myself but friends told me I should. Though when I did I found I felt more like a photographer than the model.

Now I'm just a camera whore. :P

I have a handful of before pictures but only so that I can see where I came from. Now I take a few shots every month just as a sort of photo journal to see how I am changing over the years.

When I reached the point when I knew I was going to change in appearance forever, I took a few pictures of myself as I was. Except for these three or four, I have only a couple of pictures of me from before, and one I kept because my old favorite dog is in it with me. That one is on my computer room wall and gets quite a few double takes from people.

I had more, but i destroyed them. That person had nothing to do with me. I remember thinking, who the hell IS this, anyway? 

How many pictures have I got of myself? - Not many. The few time I have a camera, I usually like taking the picture unless "forced" into appearing in it. I like having pictures of other people, the background, ... because it's memory for me. I don't need pictures of me to know I was there! :)

How many pictures have other people got of me, that I have access to? - Lots and lots from university. Oh dear Facebook....

Too many to count, though I don't own any of them.  At least ten photo albums from my earlier days, and 20 gigabytes worth since I started college.  My mom loved taking pictures even if I hated being in them (there are a few from my childhood where I'm making rather ridiculous faces).  I would never destroy her photos of me as a child, even if some of them are of me in a ridiculous dress that I was forced to wear (and promptly removed once the photo was over).  The things mean too much to her.  And some of them actually depict me in normal non-girly clothes doing activities that I actually enjoyed, so they're not all bad.

I voted 'more than a handful' but most of the photographs are from very young ages. during my adolescence I would avoid the camera at all costs and during my young adulthood era I've become the eye on the other side of the camera lense more than being photographed myself. but that is sorta changing as I become more comfortable with myself.

I would never destroy or throw away my old pictures. they are memories of my past and what made me who I am today and I cherish them for that; however I don't proudly display them around the house.

None.  That old person's long dead and buried.  "he" doesn't have anything to do with me anymore.  Never did really.

Tons, and I'm not ashamed of them at all. It's part of who I am. Actually, I think it would be interesting to see some folks' way before pics... if anyone's sufficiently courageous to show them. If I can get my scanner to work, I'll put one or two of mine on.

SD

I started to become incredibly camera-shy when I started puberty. Wonder why?

My parents kept snapping pics of me, and I hated that. When I moved away from them and into my own place, I pretty much stopped allowing pictures. I only have a handful of adult pics of me. And none at all from the last fifteen years or so, except for my driver's license.

Now I'm thinking that it's time to buy a camera phone. I never really saw the point before.

Quote from: Sebastien on August 06, 2009, 06:25:01 PM
Tons, and I'm not ashamed of them at all. It's part of who I am. Actually, I think it would be interesting to see some folks' way before pics... if anyone's sufficiently courageous to show them. If I can get my scanner to work, I'll put one or two of mine on.
SD

I agree with you and feel the same way, Sebastien. I've posted a whole bunch of my old ones. I've always taken pictures of everything since I could hold a camera. I've always had this thing where capturing pictures was a way of freezing time when I knew things were changing. I have no regrets. I don't look at old pics, they are in storage, some are on my computer, but it's no big deal. I know that previous person has continuity to who I am today. That doesn't make me any less of who I am just because I'm connected to the person I was before. I see my life as one long book with interconnected chapters. I closed one chapter and opened another but they are still a part of the same book :) meghan

a couple.  why would i wanna have more?

Quote from: Sebastien on August 06, 2009, 06:25:01 PM
Tons, and I'm not ashamed of them at all. It's part of who I am. Actually, I think it would be interesting to see some folks' way before pics... if anyone's sufficiently courageous to show them.

OK, I'll bite.

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fphotos.smugmug.com%2Fphotos%2F613491370_KRH9j-O.jpg&hash=7a61cc25326b46e5c3a2ba47a1678934d9b09a0f)

What a difference a year makes. ::)


- Kate

I have a few, I but I don't think a whole lot. I don't know, or even think, there are any out there from when I was a teen. I never took them, nor did anyone else (refused to let ppl do that, I even worked for the year book and sabotaged any pictures that ppl tried to sneak in of me). I have a couple here and there in my early 20's, and then I took some just before transition as well. I'd have to say I have more pictures of myself once I started transitioning.

Wow, Kate! What  difference.

Hope my changes are as dramatic as yours.

Wow Kate! That's actually quite a difference! Feels great doesn't it?

My parents and family have quite a few pictures of me when I was young, pre-military days.  There are only a few pics of me since I was 18.  Sometimes I wish I had a few more from all the places I've been, but the most important pics will be of me after transition.

My family got some  :o :o :o I dont mind lookin at 'em. they're part of me & I'm part of 'em.  Dunno if I wanna post one here. maybe 'just for us' if ppl wanna.  :D :D :D

Quote from: LordKAT on August 08, 2009, 06:55:39 PM
Wow, Kate! What  difference.

Hope my changes are as dramatic as yours.

Quote from: Cami on August 08, 2009, 10:03:41 PM
Wow Kate! That's actually quite a difference! Feels great doesn't it?

It feels fabulous.  I've been surprised that people still recognize me. :o

The picture from last year makes me realize just how far I've come, and I think that's one of the values of having old pictures of yourself. ;)

- Kate

They can be good mile markers for this, or any journey.