Say "limburger"

kw: book reviews, nonfiction, photographs, family, humor

There is one in every family, someone who blinks at the wrong time, or forgets to smile, or one who just doesn't seem to fit in… This image was chosen at random from the "Family Portrait" area of awkwardfamilyphotos.com. It is graced by a double whammy of awkwardness.

The web site has been running about sixteen months, and has already collected thousands of submitted photos. So much so that its perpetrators Mike Bender and Doug Chernack have issued a book, Awkward Family Photos. Being short on words and long on pictures, it makes for a quick first run-through. Then I found myself going back through more slowly, to savor a few favorites, and occasionally to puzzle out what may have happened. Like the picture here: Did the woman at the end blink, or was she just keeping her eyes closed as a matter of principle? When the daughter of friends of ours came home from college with purple hair, the mother spent lots more time trying to look elsewhere, or just not looking at anything.

The book is great fun. In addition to portraits, and the many ways they can go awry, there are pictures of family members with pets, on vacation, with the extended family, and on special occasions like weddings and birthdays. At the web site the number of categories is even greater.

We all have a box or book of photos, and there are some there that we hope nobody will see. This is one of mine; I have gotten over not wanting anyone to see it—it has been only 53 years. This is the year after all four of us boys got Mohawk hair cuts. When I went to school that way at the end of the prior summer, I was sent home, so Dad shaved my head and sent me back. This time, he shaved me early and let it grow out a little before the school year started. Though the negative is right at the end of the roll, this pic was too good to throw away.

Family photos are like that. They are family, so even though they are often awkward, we don't throw them away. Eventually, we learn to enjoy them. The book and web site let us enjoy the generous offerings of others.