The art of a ‘bad picture day’

Ah, picture day. The day moms spend hours perfecting the hair and outfit, only for the photos to become a source of entertainment and laughter decades later. It’s a rite of passage to experience a “bad picture day.” I can still see my kindergarten picture clearly — me in a pink dress with puffy sleeves, uneven crimped pigtails secured by bobble hair ties, and round glasses straight out of the “Harry Potter” handbook.
Luckily, thanks to the blessings of the internet, it’s not just family members who get to enjoy these precious gems. No one is immune to the exposure of their “bad picture day” moment.
Keishaun Anderson recently sparked a social media sensation with the hilarious school photos of her son, Arris. Her post on X shows the 2-year-old with his black hoodie up, giving a side-eye of disgust towards the camera.
Anderson told “Good Morning America” that her son is a happy-go-lucky kid who loves school and is super photogenic. However, when his preschool teacher handed her the school photos, it came as a hilarious shock.
“She had a paper in her hand and she just kind of held it close to her and started laughing,” Anderson said. “And I was like, Wait, what’s wrong? And when she handed me the pictures, I was lost for words,” per “Good Morning America.”
Laughter was the only response Anderson had to her son’s grumpy photos.
What qualifies as a ‘bad picture’?
Whatever it is, the charm of “bad picture day” moments lies in their relatability. We’ve all been there —questioning our outfit choices, wondering why we ever cut bangs, dealing with awkward poses and longing expressions. It all boils down to one question: What were we thinking?
In Season 7 of the “Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Ellen featured a segment called “Bad Paid-for Photos,” where audience members shared their most hilarious photos. Additionally, she introduced a “Before School, After School” photo segment, showcasing some of the funniest and most relatable school pictures. She also exposed celebrity high school photos. These segments always get great views and a lot of laughs because, truly, everyone has been there.
The internet has embraced these hilarious photoshoots, freezing them in time and sparking trends like the JC Penney portrait photoshoot or #ThrowbackThursday posts, allowing everyone to share and laugh about their own nostalgic mishaps.
As Anderson put it, “I love the outcome of the pictures. It’s going to be a family memory for us. These pictures are going to linger around forever. He’s not going to be able to live it down,” per “Good Morning America.”
Bad pictures are a “cherished rite of passage.”