The art of camera-dodging

We all have that one friend who takes his/her camera EVERYWHERE. Going to a party? Let's take photos! Having predrinks? Here's the camera! Having a chilled movie night? OMG SMILE!

While it's always nice to have photographic memories from one's nights out, I think we should ban all cameras after 11 o' clock. Why? Because at that point we are all drunk and looking like total retards. Hair becomes messy, make-up goes everywhere, underwear is frequently on show and expressions are of the droopy-eye, double-chin, zombie-impersonation variety. And were it not for Facebook, I would not have to insist on this rule. Back in the day (when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and MySpace was popular) it was relatively safe to have friends take horrendous photos of you because they would travel no further than a folder on that friend's computer, probably labelled "The night we knocked over a lamp post" or "The night Fred puked on Friars' dance floor". Now these folders are uploaded onto Facebook and worse: we're actually tagged in them. Because hey, I really want my mom to see photos of me half passed out on my birthday. She'd be delighted.

Thankfully most of my friends are awesome enough to not upload the really really bad photos (Thank you Cayley!) However, while flicking through photos on Facebook last night, I had a horrifying revelation. Usually when a bad photo of me appears on Facebook, I think along the lines of "Wow I must've been drunk!", "Gee she's a bad photographer" or even "I am SO not photogenic". Then last night, for the first time, it occurred to me...maybe they're not bad photos. Maybe I have a bad mirror and I really am just that unattractive :O it was a sobering thought.

But then I decided to make myself feel better and Facebook-stalked a few people who I know to be very attractive in real life, and horribly un-photogenic in Facebook photos. It provided a much-needed ego-boost. So for those of you who are like me and get a shudder of foreboding when you see "[Insert name here] has uploaded 16 photos of you!", here's a tip: you're not ugly. Blame the camera. :P

(For the record, this does not apply to Journ students. They have an actual need to take photos, thus they are forgiven. Plus they usually take good ones).