They’e everywhere, and they’re almost too painful to look at. The awkward family photos. But sometimes I can’t help but think, you know… good on ya. Good. On. Ya.
1.
Okay, they’re not in great shape… at all… but look at their faces. They are in to it. And you totally get the archetype they’re going for. They had an idea, and ran with it, so hell yes.
2.
One of the myriad “overly-sincere dude with a cat” pictures. Okay, it’s a bit weird, but… dude loves his cat. And he’s comfortable with that.
3.
Shouldn’t adolescent pics be off limits? She got into dance! And her jazz hands are top notch! Let he or she who is without excruciating evidence of their transitional years post the first meme, I say.
4.
What, you’d rather they faked it? “Here’s a photo of mom with the kids she wished she’d had.”
5.
Because… come on… awesome.
The Byronic Man 
September 16, 2013 at 4:04 am
I wish there was a “Love” button.
September 16, 2013 at 11:45 am
I keep trying to make my own, but it’s just a button on my desk, so it’s not really working out.
September 16, 2013 at 12:40 pm
I believe in you bro.
September 16, 2013 at 4:06 am
I love this. Thanks for the smile. I love that the mom let her kids be who they are.
Good point of view!
September 16, 2013 at 11:47 am
There are other examples that are more extreme, but they’re almost too much to take.
September 16, 2013 at 4:16 am
I know it’s wrong, so very, very wrong, but I love #5 and I’m seriously considering using it for this year’s Christmas card.
September 16, 2013 at 6:14 am
Ha! I had the same thought about # 2. The cat is wearing a Santa hat, after all.
September 16, 2013 at 4:33 am
The dedication to the theme in number one is truly admirable. I agree.
September 16, 2013 at 11:49 am
They should do a calendar!
September 16, 2013 at 4:38 am
Not that I was looking to closely, but #3: is there a hole in her nylons? …I’m going to turn myself into the police now.
September 16, 2013 at 11:41 am
Naw, man. That is not a hole. That, my friend, is a gusset. Gussets are reinforced panels of fabric for places that are subject to lots of stretching every which way. That gal is wearing gusseted pantyhose when she really could’ve done with your regular, run of the mill non-gusseted kind. Yep. Gusseted pantyhose. Definitely not recommended for wear with leotards, as the contrast between the gusset and the hose is somewhat, er, less than appealing.
September 16, 2013 at 11:48 am
I never knew that! Though my knowledge of panty hose is, I admit, pretty limited.
September 16, 2013 at 4:39 am
Surely, these are staged, Shirley. Or, at the very least, Photoshopped. The world simply isn’t this bizarre.
September 16, 2013 at 11:49 am
Sometimes I’m suspicious. #3 I was skeptical of at first.
September 16, 2013 at 4:44 am
I’m actually envious of #1. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that invested in anything.
September 16, 2013 at 7:37 am
I’m kind of envious, too. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that comfortable with my body.
September 16, 2013 at 6:41 pm
I know, isn’t that cool? That whole, “I want to be sexy and make a sexy face” is, in and of itself, sexy.
September 16, 2013 at 7:13 pm
Nothing quite as awesome as self-confidence.
September 16, 2013 at 11:51 am
The crazy part is that’s their wedding photo.
I made that up.
September 16, 2013 at 4:44 am
With the ability to scan old photos like these, they’ll never get lost, fade, or burn in a fire. Really, we have no excuses now. Damn technology.
September 16, 2013 at 11:52 am
I knew technology was a bad idea. I say, back to basics! Like sticks and caves!
September 16, 2013 at 4:49 am
Exile doesn’t think these are real. Guess again. I’ve got lots of these, similar to #5, in my old family albums. However, I’ll never post them online. I’d really hate to end up in someone’s blog post. Those awkward years must remain private at all costs.
September 16, 2013 at 11:52 am
I always wonder how many were posted by the people in them, versus someone who was, say at their home and came across the photos.
September 17, 2013 at 5:35 am
I’ve got family members who could do me a lot of harm.
September 16, 2013 at 4:52 am
That is one handsome cat, so I get it.
September 16, 2013 at 11:53 am
Hopefully it’s his only cat. There isn’t a gnarled, ugly one off screen, feeling neglected.
September 16, 2013 at 5:06 am
These were all spectacular, especially the disembodied cat head…but that guy really missed out by not putting his cat in a matching turtleneck sweater.
September 16, 2013 at 5:38 am
You’re wrong. A turtleneck totally would have clashed with the santa hat. Come ON, Darla. Get it together.
September 16, 2013 at 5:39 am
Hahaha! I am so tempted to whip out some crude photoshop action to make that happen.
September 16, 2013 at 5:57 am
September 16, 2013 at 6:08 am
Haha. I tried to upload one but my embedded image was rejected in the comment field. You topped me with the goatee though.
September 16, 2013 at 6:13 am
I spent 2 minutes on it so …
September 16, 2013 at 6:28 am
very nice, Ape! I spent waaaay too much time on mine. (I’m stalling doing my math homework…)
September 16, 2013 at 12:24 pm
Brilliant!
September 16, 2013 at 12:24 pm
I love the goatee!
September 16, 2013 at 5:47 am
Feel free to delete this comment B Man but I could not resist Darla’s idea…
September 16, 2013 at 11:53 am
Are you kidding? It’s a highlight!
September 16, 2013 at 2:21 pm
This comment was meant to have the pic embedded in it so I figured you may remove it if you don’t like embedded pics in your comments. I stuffed up the HTML thingy and the pic was removed automatically leaving just a weird comment about deleting the comment. I then just pasted a link in another comment like Darla. True story I swear.
September 16, 2013 at 5:37 am
To be honest, the most disturbing thing for me in the first picture was the faded dad jeans .
September 16, 2013 at 11:54 am
I agree. Would it have been that hard to even get slacks? Those might pass a little more for “knight’s tunic” or something. But old jeans?
September 16, 2013 at 7:14 am
“Let he or she who is without excruciating evidence of their transitional years post the first meme…”
Perhaps the most brilliant line in the history of blogging.
September 16, 2013 at 6:40 pm
Aw, shucks…
September 16, 2013 at 7:28 am
Somehow you have made me feel a little better about some of the old photos I just found in the trunk while getting out the winter blankets. There will be no memes from me.
September 16, 2013 at 6:40 pm
Yeah, any awkward photos of my teen years get an audience of nil.
September 16, 2013 at 7:48 am
Ahh, I see a new caption contest in the offing….
September 16, 2013 at 6:39 pm
Oh man I wish I’d though of that ahead of time…
September 16, 2013 at 8:02 am
This made me chuckle, thank you!
September 16, 2013 at 8:23 am
Of all the things to get hung up on, I can’t get over the facial hair on the kid in #5.
September 16, 2013 at 11:55 am
I know. It’s like he tried to grow & shape his goatee based off a description in the dictionary.
September 16, 2013 at 9:05 am
These ARE awesome! I love #4 because they’re holding hands and all touching in some way. The important thing is clearly there in the photo. And I agree with ‘this is who we are right now’. I’d not like to look back in 20 years and see something faked. That’s like saying we aren’t good enough as ourselves or something.
September 16, 2013 at 6:40 pm
I agree – probably not the best times of their lives, but nothing about it says, “And they never spoke again…”
September 16, 2013 at 9:07 am
I am steadily eliminating all adolescent pictures of me precisely because of blog posts such as this.
September 16, 2013 at 9:09 am
Love them all! #1, wow. I want their confidence.
September 16, 2013 at 12:22 pm
1. Got a little turned on thinking about all the sweat gluing all that nudity together. 3. What is creeping out of the leotard? What. Is. That?
September 16, 2013 at 1:07 pm
How do I not know that cat? He’s obviously some kind of celebrity.
September 16, 2013 at 1:30 pm
just proves that a camera in the wrong hands is a crime–I just don’t know what else to say…..
September 16, 2013 at 7:11 pm
My attorney will be calling your attorney over #3. How dare you.
September 16, 2013 at 7:23 pm
Oh I love the guy with the cats!
September 17, 2013 at 2:20 pm
I want to hang with the girl in picture number three. You know she grew up to know how to party. Or to become Lady Gaga. Because its rare for a person to have such commitment to glittery headbands and the theatre of the dance.
September 17, 2013 at 7:12 pm
HAHAH hilarious pictures!
September 17, 2013 at 7:55 pm
Hi there. Just wanted to let you know I nominated you for the ‘Super Sweet’ Award. Your blog is a lot of fun to read.
For more details: http://thenovicescreenwriter.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/super-sweet-award-writing-updates-and-friday-2/
September 17, 2013 at 11:08 pm
Beautiful and better than all my school photos combined!
September 18, 2013 at 6:05 am
Weird, they don’t look all that awkward to me. I’m the kid crouching at bottom right of #5. For some reason I’ve been cropped out of the picture.
September 18, 2013 at 2:37 pm
OK, where the hell did you get these awesome pictures? I especially loooove that third one of Rachel’s Table, pre-hotness. Jazz hands rule.
September 19, 2013 at 6:00 pm
#3 was on the front of the birthday card I sent to my sister last month. Note the hole near the crotch of the tan sparkly stockings. Also note: I did not look terribly unlike this girl 20 years ago. I really hope that girl is now a grown woman who signed off on the rights to use that photo…
September 22, 2013 at 1:48 pm
The last one is priceless
September 22, 2013 at 10:19 pm
Excellent post! Funny stuff!
September 25, 2013 at 1:34 am
I often google ‘Awkward Family Photos’ as the results are always so hilarious as you’ve posted! Excellent post.
September 26, 2013 at 7:44 am
I love all of these. Unironically. I have to find my prom picture.
September 28, 2013 at 4:08 pm
The sword picture is just wonderful!!
October 4, 2013 at 1:15 pm
Awkward Family Photos is my nasty little web secret whenever I’m frazzled or annoyed with my family.
Nice to know there are people out there even more screwed up than I was as a kid…just happy about the house fire that destroyed all of mine…and it wasn’t my fault – they couldn’t prove anything!