I went through a stage of looking at my old photos and it was like looking at a stranger I didn't know anymore, but I seem to have got past that.  A lot of my old photos are ones where I'm with my children when they were small and I certainly want to keep those.

I get that same feeling when looking at pre transition photos. I see someone else, a stranger. I still have no reason to get rid of those photos, though. It's how I got here, going through all of that, even the years of denial, overcompensation, living it made me who I am today, allowed me to see the world with the eyes I do now.

Funny post. I'm going through the diary and pics we made 35 years ago when we travelled around Australia in a very old Landcruiser and an even older caravan.

I'm loving them. I'm not sure who he was but he was a spunky guy!

I wouldn't be who I am today, without what happened pretransition. I have a pretty horrible memory as is, so I don't think I would be able to bare losing my old photos!

I've kept my past pictures right now, its fun to go through them some times just to see how different I looked. I also have some memories I'm very fond of that were captured in photos. I might make them less accessible in the future, right now most of my photos are still available on my facebook page.

I've kept my pre-transition pictures. There even some still on my Facebook page. I also have one hanging in the hallway of my brother and I white water rafting 20 years ago with out father. Even though my father and I don't currently speak (he STILL hasn't accepted my transitioning) it represents a great memory of my brother and I (he is very supportive) of time spent together. Even though the old pictures don't totally represent who I am, there were still great memories that I cherish and I don't won't to forget those good times

Quote from: Rejennyrated on July 12, 2015, 03:55:39 AM
No offense meant to anyone, but I really do worry about the mental wellbeing of people who would choose to dump ALL their past photos. I can fully understand that one might want to thin them down to a few selected examples, and that those examples might not be shown to many people, but we are all in part the product of out past lives, and I worry that there is a horrible unreality and denial in the heart of those who cannot acknowledge that past.

Aside from the fact that it seems to me to be a psychologically worse situation than being pre-everything and in the closet, it also suggests that the person in question is in deep denial, and in all seriousness most mental health professionals would probably consider that to be a borderline psychosis. So I think this notion is actually dangerous to peoples emotional and psychological wellbeing. By all means lock them up and keep them very discretely, but we all need to keep at least a few to remind us of how far we've come.

Its an understandable temptation, especially in the euphoria of taking the final steps in your journey, but it really is a dangerous siren call which should be resisted if we are to stay healthy and rooted in reality.

I think this may be a generational thing.

Having transitioned relatively young, there isn't much in the photos that I feel sentimental about. They're all mostly childhood moments that I don't remember, or that are meaningless to me. I don't identify with the person in those photos. When I see them, it's like looking at those stock photos they put in picture frames as placeholders in the store. I wouldn't keep pictures of random strangers around, so why keep pictures of pre-transition me?

I have a very small private album online that I never look at. Everything else is long gone, and I don't feel bad about it.

No!  Not at all.  I don't want to throw away 20 years of my life... like that person was still me I want to be able to see them sometimes.  Sure its a little cringey at times but its important to preserve the past.  I think I would be really sad and freaked out actually if I lost all my pics from before hrt and everything it would be like losing a part of my self.

I don't have any myself but my family does. Soon after I came out my mum actually asked me whether I'm okay with her keeping the pictures. I am but I just would prefer for them not to be displayed.

Quote from: ftmax on July 12, 2015, 11:04:59 AM
I think this may be a generational thing.

Having transitioned relatively young, there isn't much in the photos that I feel sentimental about. They're all mostly childhood moments that I don't remember, or that are meaningless to me. I don't identify with the person in those photos. When I see them, it's like looking at those stock photos they put in picture frames as placeholders in the store. I wouldn't keep pictures of random strangers around, so why keep pictures of pre-transition me?

I have a very small private album online that I never look at. Everything else is long gone, and I don't feel bad about it.

Hardly a generational thing. I may be older now but I originally transitioned aged 5 - in 1965 and YES it DID happen back then! It was just a lot less common, and because there was no internet we managed to keep it private so the world and his dog didnt get to hear that we existed!!!

So I'm by no means an older transitioner. In fact almost my ENTIRE life, with exception of two aproximately five year periods (0 - 5 and 17 - 23) I have been either andogynous or postop female. 1st transition 1960's 2nd transition early 1980's.

Sadly there were no blockers in th 1970's and doctors wouldnt treat people under 21 so at about 17 I detransitioned for a while only to reatransition in my early 20's but even the brief period when I was a rather confused young man is part of my story so I keep it for completeness.

Quote from: Rejennyrated on July 12, 2015, 03:55:39 AM
No offense meant to anyone, but I really do worry about the mental wellbeing of people who would choose to dump ALL their past photos. I can fully understand that one might want to thin them down to a few selected examples, and that those examples might not be shown to many people, but we are all in part the product of out past lives, and I worry that there is a horrible unreality and denial in the heart of those who cannot acknowledge that past.

Aside from the fact that it seems to me to be a psychologically worse situation than being pre-everything and in the closet, it also suggests that the person in question is in deep denial, and in all seriousness most mental health professionals would probably consider that to be a borderline psychosis. So I think this notion is actually dangerous to peoples emotional and psychological wellbeing. By all means lock them up and keep them very discretely, but we all need to keep at least a few to remind us of how far we've come.

Its an understandable temptation, especially in the euphoria of taking the final steps in your journey, but it really is a dangerous siren call which should be resisted if we are to stay healthy and rooted in reality.

I have to agree with this, it worries me too.

I keep all my photos, and don't mind seeing them occasionally. It's important for me to keep a link with my past and I don't like to create this big "before and after" separation of my transition. I view it as a continuous journey and just a natural progression from living as a girl to being a man and growing up. It's good to know where you started and how far you've come.

There's no reason to erase one's past, no matter how unsavory it may be. You have to be able to look back and say, "That is who I was...and look at how far I've come".

Besides, I've posted a few pictures from my pre-coming-out days to Facebook and the reactions from some people were priceless. 

Quote from: ftmax on July 12, 2015, 11:04:59 AM
I think this may be a generational thing.

Having transitioned relatively young, there isn't much in the photos that I feel sentimental about. They're all mostly childhood moments that I don't remember, or that are meaningless to me. I don't identify with the person in those photos. When I see them, it's like looking at those stock photos they put in picture frames as placeholders in the store. I wouldn't keep pictures of random strangers around, so why keep pictures of pre-transition me?

I have a very small private album online that I never look at. Everything else is long gone, and I don't feel bad about it.

I don't think it's generational. If it were, it seems like the older generations are actually the ones more likely to delete their past. Because the treatment for transssexuals in the old days involved a much more black & white view of the process, and they were encouraged to forget their past and pretend they're cis. Even for the older people who only transitioned recently, that traditional view still might've rubbed off on them because the public opinion surrounding transsexuals was different.

Anyway, I'm 25 and started transitioning at 15, but I feel a connection to my past. It's mostly childhood photos as I don't have much from my early teen years. I can look at photos and think "aw what a cute kid, I remember when that was taken." Having pictures of random strangers is a lot different than having old photos of yourself, even if you sorta feel like that person was a stranger in a metaphorical sense. It was actually you and those experiences happened, and loved ones also shared those experiences with you. For the sake of encouraging acceptance from family members, I think that's easier to gain when they don't have to wipe out the past and forget you ever existed before transition. It probably also helps with accepting yourself and being able to appreciate how far you've come.

The first time I saw my wedding photos since coming out to myself, I just sobbed and sobbed...  but I can't see denying the past working out too well for me.

well, on thinking this over I think I would of been upset if I didn't keep them and wanted to look at them again.

I'm keeping mine, as a solid reminder of where I came from and the progress I made. I'd rather not erae my whole upbringing because the past is pretty important.  (to me)