Worth a thousand words?

You know, the old proverb goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

I can’t help but think of that as I spend time thumbing through profiles...

I don’t know about other people but, I just don’t like photos of myself.

I don’t recognize that person staring back at me in self-portraits. Actually, I’ll let you in on a secret, I kind of cringe when I see photos of myself.

(look at my photos, you may too!) ( LOL )

So, I posted a bunch of photos and I can’t say I’m crazy about any of them.

The photo that is the lead picture in my profile is decent enough and coincidentally, I am in profile. Still, the strong shadow in the shot can make it look as if I have a hooknose to the casual viewer - not a great thing.

I put up a bunch of pictures of my socks...

...not because I have a foot fetish or anything. I just like those socks and think they’re fun. I was thinking, how they’re representative of a playful attitude I have towards life and I hoped to find a way to get that across.

Then, there’s an old photo from days when I was a punk or at least, my approximation of a punk. I always considered myself more of a ‘mod’ at the time.

And there’s another shot I photoshopped a little because of the horribly ugly wallpaper background in it and the really harsh fluorescent lighting.

Making a little bit of a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. I didn’t alter my features, just corrected elements of the shot itself that only made things unflattering (bad color and horrid shadows).

So, in the five photos I’ve put up that’s what? Five thousand words? I wonder what story people are getting from those pictures.

On the flip side I am amazed by some of the pictures I see.

I don’t know about other guys but, seeing those shots of women with old boyfriends... you know the ones, where the guy is cut out but his arm is still very prominent or there is just a botched bit of work with the stamp tool are just a bit in bad taste.

Ladies?! Can’t you find a decent picture of yourself smiling without your ex in it?

Then, there are the garishly obvious shots with generous portions of flesh.

I wonder if the women in those pics thing of themselves as meat? Not that I don’t have an appreciation for female flesh, I have to profess to having a gourmand’s taste for it - it seems posting gratuitous flesh shots are akin to being in a used car lot.

Everyone here has a certain amount of mileage - do we need the big numbers in the car window? Is the hard sell necessary?

I think maybe some women aren’t aware of their greatest lure if you will - the simple beauty of a woman’s face.

I am always reminded of this passage:

Was this the face that launch’d a thousand ships,
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.
Her lips suck forth my soul: see, where it flies!
Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again.
Here will I dwell, for heaven is in these lips,
And all is dross that is not Helena.
I will be Paris, and for love of thee,
Instead of Troy, shall Wittenberg be sack’d;
And I will combat with weak Menelaus,
And wear thy colours on my plumed crest;
Yea, I will wound Achilles in the heel,
And then return to Helen for a kiss.
O, thou art fairer than the evening air
Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars;
Brighter art thou than flaming Jupiter
When he appear’d to hapless Semele;
More lovely than the monarch of the sky
In wanton Arethusa’s azur’d arms;
And none but thou shalt be my paramour!

A friend of mine who is at the very young age of 85 commented to me that, “Beauty fades, but cute is forever.”

See, I keep looking at those profiles and wonder how many of the women have the same problem I have, in they look at their pictures with a critical eye, seeing only the faults that lie within.

It makes me figure all of us should be asking other people to help us to pick out shots.

Then, the other thing is that just cropping alone can make a great shot. Sometimes people can’t be bothered with that. I find that the most fascinating thing of all because it’s so easy! It probably has something to do with the fact I find myself working with photos and layout frequently.

Anyway, I’ve droned on.

So, speaking as a guy I would say pics of the old boyfriend floating around in them are something of a no-no. Not that you don’t have exes, but do I need to see how happy you were with them before things went awry?

What about you other folks out there, men and women both, are there any things you find in profile photos you think are non-starters? I think we all could use to learn a thing or two about this. (1847 Views pre transfer)