Oh yeah, there aren't many pics of me around since I was about 9 to....now
I've agreed to take SOME like with/for my niece cos I feel it's important for her to see and have pics of me/us.

Teacher said:

Same here.

It wasn't until about a year or two ago - when I was looking through some old photographs - that I realised how very little there are of me from my teens/twenties. I always tend to be the one taking - or avoiding - them.

Then something quite revelatory - to me, on a personal level at least - happened. I was flicking through some mates' photographs a while back and I came across this entire batch that I'd never even seen before. It was like looking at snapshots of someone else's life, almost; I honestly felt like crying at the time. It was quite bizarre. (A) because they brought a LOT of memories back - my memory is terrible enough as it is, I'd forgotten so much and (B) not something I can really go into here but I realised just how harsh I'd been on myself all those years. I wasted so much time worrying about who I was, how I looked, what people thought. It was a time of my life where I felt deeply unsettled. Those photos were a bit of a kick up the arse, I guess - I don't feel *that* removed from the person in the photographs but I don't want to spend any of my thirties, or any other decade either, feeling like that. So much wasted energy.

So even though I still don't like having my photograph taken, my perception has changed slightly. I want to have some reminders of my 30's at least - not just the things I remember or the stories my mates tell me.

LOVE having my picture taken - HATE being filmed