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50 ‘Awkward Family Photos’ Shared By People Who Cringe At Them To This Day (New Pics)
Interview
Flipping through old family albums is both a pleasure and a challenge for us. It’s great to revisit wholesome memories from our past again, but it can really hurt to see just how many embarrassing and awkward photos there are of us. It’s cold, hard proof that we weren’t as cool as we thought we were! Is that really how we used to dress? Oh, dear Lord, is that what we look like when we smile?!
If you learn to embrace that goofy and derpy side of yourself, you might realize just how much fun you can have in front of the camera when you’re not trying to come across as ‘perfect.’ And it makes it sooo much easier to deal with any awkward pics you might find in your archives.
That’s where the Awkward Family Photos project comes in. The brainchild of childhood friends Mike Bender and Doug Chernack, AFP features super awkward and cringy photos from the past that are incredibly fun to look at. Nearly all of us have some pics at home like this which makes it even more enjoyable.
Scroll down for the newest vintage awkward pics, as featured by Awkward Family Photos, and remember to upvote your fave ones, Pandas. Got any similar photos to share with us? You can post your pics in the comments. And if you can’t get enough of AFP, then hang on to your hats and check out Bored Panda’s recent articles about the project here, here, and here.
More info: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
"My Aunt And Uncle Were Crowned "Golden Couple" At Our Local Fair For Being The Longest Married Couple In The County At 72 Years. Our Local Paper Did A Fantastic Arrangement For The Honor..."
RELATED:
#2
"My Grandma Got Bit By A Pelican On The Pier And Then Began To Scold It"
#3
“One Of Our Goats And I Were Both Pregnant With Twins And Due The Same Week. I Made Her Dress Up And Take Maternity Photos With Me”
#4
"My All Time Favorite Picture Of My Sister. She Was 6, Tired, And Had Just Tried Sparkling Grape Juice. Not A Fan"
Mozzarella 4 years ago (edited)
My face when I hear another goddamn antivaxxer going on about my connection to Satan through the vaccine
#5
"Dad Didn't Have Much Luck In The Arm Wrestling Circuit, But He Has High Hopes For His Boy"
#6
“This Pretty Much Sums Up My Childhood"
"I’m the blond on the left burying my head in my sister’s lap while she gets in a cheap shot. The youngest is fish-hooking my other sister while my mother looks on and laughs. My father is letting everyone know what his future looks like with four daughters like these.”
#7
"We Just Wanted A Nice Family Photo"
#8
"When It’s Your First Day Of Kindergarten And Also Your First Day As Head Of The Pta"
#9
“As A Child, I Would Dress Up As A Clown Whenever There Was A Reason To Celebrate – In This Case The Birth Of My Younger Brother”
#10
"I Asked My Grandma If She Had Some Rice That I Can Put My Phone In When It Got Wet And She Pulls This Out Of A Cabinet"
#11
“I Got A Life Sized Barbie When I Was 7 And My Brother Had Other Ideas”
#12
“I Was Just Trying To Peel My Daughter Off Of Me, Sit Her On The Bench And Then I Was Running To Get Out Of The Picture. However It Looks Like I Have Left My Children With Their Sitter And Am Running Away For Dear Life!”
#13
“My Poor Daughter Never Heard The End Of It From Her Siblings After Her Heartbreaker Tee Shirt Turned To Fartbreaker For School Pictures"
Brandon Marlowe 4 years ago (edited)
My fave! I actually DID laugh out loud. (Very juvenile sense of humor here.)
#14
"My Dad In High School (1959) vs. Me In High School (1986)"
#15
“My Sister Looking Like She’s Gonna Tear My Head Off When I Was An Infant Being Held By My Dad”
#16
“During Our ‘Perfect’ Beach Photo Shoot, My Oldest Son Jumped On My Back, Propelling My Infant Son Out Of My Arms"
"My infant son was not harmed, just wet and scared but mommy is forever traumatized.”
#17
"A Valentines Day Card From A Student Of Mine"
#18
“Our Grandma Used To Not Only Give My Sister And Me Mullets In The 80s, She Would Then Perm Them. Matching Permed Mullets. Need I Say More?”
#19
“My Husband As An Infant. I Prayed Our Children Would Not Inherit His Large Cranium”
#20
"If Your Mum Wasn't Making Herself Into A Ramp For Your New Bmx, Did She Even Love You? 1980'"
#21
"My Favorite Picture Of My Parents. Them On Their Wedding Day. 1991"
#22
“Our Daughter Would Not Cooperate For Her Photos. She Was Doing Everything But Smiling. Here She Is Getting Ready To 'Hulk' Out”
#23
"I Was Born In 1981 But Turned 55 In 1992"
#24
"My Daughter Was Supposed To Be A Flower Girl In Her Aunt's Wedding But Napping Is Life (And She Was Safely Strapped In)"
#25
“A Photo My Mom Captured Of My Then Two Year Old Daughter"
#26
"My Great Grandma And Her Twin Sister In Springfield, Missouri. The Original Inspiration For The Shining I’m Sure"
#27
"My Parents Wedding Day, 1980s"
#28
"My Husband’s Grandfather Hung Every Photo On The Wall That He Had Of His Grandchildren"
"As a test, the family had the grandkids pose by a garbage dumpster and sent it to his grandfather to see what he would do and he still hung it up on the wall. It then became a tradition to send him photos of the family by dumpsters."
#29
“This Is A Photo Of My Daughter And Her Father Riding The Tennessee Tornado Roller Coaster At Dollywood. When We Saw The Photo At The Sales Kiosk, We Laughed So Hard We Just Had To Buy It!”
#30
“It Was 1990 So I Guess My Parents Thought They’d Dress Me Up Like A New Wave Recording Artist”
#31
"It Was My Son’s First Time On My Favorite Ride And He Was Terrified. As For My Husband, He Just Always Looks Like That"
#32
"Vintage 1984 Polaroid Of Mr. T Pitying Me As A Baby With My Mom"
#33
“My Grandparents’ Christmas Card From 1951 And My Favorite Annual Reminder That Font Choice Matters"
#34
“The Photographer Kept Telling My Son To “Smile More!” And This Was His Version Of Smiling “More””
#35
“My Husband, The Blonde, Punctured His Kidney While Wrestling With His Brother Who Is Posing On The Right. His Injury Caused Him To Pee Blood And Resulted In Major Surgery. And His Little Brother Couldn’t Have Been Prouder”
#36
"My Daughter Would Not Stop Crying Until She Got Her Own Cone Of Shame"
#37
"I Apologize For My Crimes Against The Ozone Layer. High School Graduation, 1989"
#38
"My Mother And Grandmother Demonstrating Safety Standards In The 1960s"
#39
“This Is My Sister Graduating High School Back When You Had To Wait To Get Photos Developed”
#40
"Came Across Some Old Photos Of A Weird Looking Baby At My Parents' House. Found Out It’s Me At 4 Weeks. Thank God They Captured My Beauty Before I Grew Out Of It"
#41
“It’s Hard To Get All 4 Brothers To Behave For A Picture But The Oldest Sure Tried To Keep Everyone In Line”
#42
"Found At My Parents. Not Sure If I Should Laugh Or Cry?"
#43
"My Great-Grandfather's Passport Photo From 1978"
#44
“My Parents Just Got A Hot Tub And Were Very Excited About It"
"Therefore, my grandma hired a professional photographer to take a family photo in the hot tub. For some reason they posed with wine and candles even though the children were not old enough to drink… and sent it out to 150 plus friends as a Christmas card.”
#45
“Thirteen Of Grandma’s Grandchildren Were In The House For A Couple Days Around Christmas-Time. She Was Pretty Exhausted”
#46
“My Dad On Christmas Morning"
#47
“Grandma Made These Wonderful Crochet Vests For Each Of My Husband’s Siblings. He Looks Strangely Happy About It. (Far Right)”
#48
“I Received This Photo From My Dad While He Was Babysitting My Daughter. When She Found Out Grandpa Could Take Out His Teeth, He Let Her Wear Them”
#49
"My 2001 School Photo"
"In order to perfect this aesthetic masterpiece, I put a massive amount of gel in my wet hair, then I bent over and swung my hair around and blow dried it upside down until the gel hardened completely… I got a little lightheaded each time, but clearly worth it!”
#50
"Here Is My Dad With My Grandma In 1956 At The Snow King Chair Lift"
#51
"Welp , I Found My Dad's Old Modeling Photos"
#52
"My Dog Hanging Out In The Exact Spot We Tried To Keep Her Out Of"
#53
“My Husband’s 1st Day Of School Dressed In A Cap That Looks Like A Helmet, Old School Glasses And White Socks & Sandals While Holding His School-Issued ‘Schultuete’ "
#54
"The Time My Brother Tried To Hop Over A Pole..."
#55
“My Husband Hid These From Me For Years, I Was Going Through Stuff To Clean Out Some Junk And Found Them Hidden And I Almost Died Laughing”
#56
"We Found My Wife’s Phone In The Toilet. We Weren’t Sure Which Of Our Three Kids Put It There...until My Wife Scrolled Through Her Pictures"
Mozzarella 4 years ago
And they don’t give a f**k. Looking a bit disappointed that the phone didn’t go all the way down
#57
“1993. My Siblings And Me (The Blonde) Got The Great Idea To Take A Portrait Of Ourselves For A Surprise Christmas Present For Our Mom. However, None Of Us Were In The Mood For Photos On That Particular Day"
#58
“Christmas 2009. We Went To The Mall To Take A Picture With Santa And Seemingly Nothing Went Wrong… My Son Didn’t Cry, The Line Was Manageable But Santa’s Attention Was Focused Elsewhere”
#59
“There’s A Reason Why My Sisters Were Accepted Into Private School And I Wasn’t”
#60
"My Knees Kind Of Resemble Baby Faces In Utero"
#61
“My Grandmother And Great Grandmother In The Early 90s"
#62
“This Is What Happens When Your Mother Chops Off Your Beautiful, Long, Thick, Crystal Gayle-Length Hair The Day Before School Photos In Grade 2"
Hugo Hackenbush 4 years ago
At the age of 7, Helen moved into her own apartment and adopted 17 cats. She took an HR job with Vidal Sassoon and soon became vice president of bowl cuts. She retired at the age of 11, started selling counterfeit Easy Bake Ovens to girl scouts. Her present whereabouts are unknown according to the FBI.
#63
“This Is My Brother And I At Christmas, 1965. I Was Only 6 Months Old And My Brother Obviously Thought I Was Annoying, If Not Repulsive”
#64
“When The Preacher Said ‘Kiss The Bride,’ My Four-Year-Old Decided To Put A Finger In My Butt”
#65
"My 2 Years Old Daughter Wanted To Sleep With The Skeleton In Her Room. You Choose Your Battles…"
#66
“During Our Annual Holiday Family Photo Shoot, We Wanted To Recreate A Cute One We Got The Prior Year When Our Son Was Just A Baby. It Didn’t Quite Turn Out Like We Hoped It Would….”
#67
“Our Kids Had Experimented With A Few Different Balancing Acts And By The Time I Got My Camera Figured Out, Our Son Had Found A New Perch”
#68
“My Parents And My Little Sister On A Vacation In Croatia. It Was A Long Day And She Was Quite Tired”
#69
“I Was Baptised When I Was About 10 And Yes, Those Are My Legs”
#70
"It Was My 7th Birthday And I Don’t Know Why This Is Happening..."
#71
“My High School B-Ball Pic"
#72
“This Is Me Back In ’93 At The Brantford Skating Carnival. The Show Was Beauty And The Beast, And I Was A Piece Of Cutlery (A Spoon)"
#73
“My Great-Aunt Loved These Cookies So Much, She Apparently Had My Father Do A Photo Shoot With Them! This Is Arguably The Best Shot”
#74
"Snapped A Nice Picture Of My Dad Admiring A Gorilla"
#75
"I Was Having A Great Time Going Through Old Pictures With My Daughter And Thought It Would Be Fun To Include My Mom So I Sent Her A Text Of This Hysterical Family Photo That I Had No Memory Of. My Mom’s Response To My Text Was More Amusing Than The Picture"
#76
“Drawing By Me: Age 5”
#77
"Me, My Little Sister, And My Girlfriend Meeting Santa"
#78
"Just Me, Stuck On A Fence In A Diaper While The Neighbor's Kids Are Getting Their Kicks, My Sister Is About To Eat Dirt, And My Brother Is Creepin' Around In The Back"
#79
"My Wife (On The Far Right) They Wanted To Dress Up As “Fun Clowns” And Ride Around The Neighborhood"
#80
“My Ex-Husband Surprised Me After Work With A Birthday Cake"
"I wanted a picture of my son and I for the scrapbook so was leaning forward to get closer to him. I had not been to the hairdresser’s in 2 years and had age inappropriate hair at the time. The candles took care of that and luckily, my husband managed to put out the flames with his bare hands once he realized what was happening. Of course, he missed the shot of me screaming my head off. I’ve been going for regular trims since.”
#81
“This Photo Of My 6 Month Old Brother Was Taken On My Second Birthday. Apparently My Siblings Thought It Would Be Hilarious To Tie Balloons To All Of His Limbs And My Parents Were Just Like, ‘Whatever.’ He Was The Eighth Child, So I Guess By Then Nothing Mattered”
#82
“A Wedding Photo Of Our Very Big (And Very Small) Day”
#83
"Our Annual Awkward Christmas Photo"
#84
"Daughter Demanded Peppa Pig Get The X-Ray With Her"
#85
"The Location For The Artwork At Our Local Skate Country Is Highly Questionable..."
#86
“We Were All So Delighted To Meet Our Little Niece, Erin”
#87
“It Was The Summer Of ‘68 Or ‘69 And My Mom (Holding Her Cousin) Was In Las Vegas With Her Aunt And Uncle To Babysit Their Kids While They Went To See Sonny And Cher In Concert"
"Sonny and Cher stayed at the same hotel as them (Sahara) and were casually lounging by the pool one afternoon. Sonny obliged for a photo op with my mom and her cousin.”
#88
“This Miraculous Photo Is Of My Darling Dear Mother, In The 80s, With What Is Obviously A Cutout Of The Great Thomas Sullivan Magnum"
#89
“The Whole Family Went For Church Directory Photos And The Photographer Decided To Be ‘Creative’ With Us”
Firstname Lastname 4 years ago
Is being creative the polite way of not telling someone that they are a butterface?
#90
"I Had A Lot Of Explaining To Do When My Parents Found This On Their Camera Roll. In My Defense, He Deserved It..."
#91
"This Is A Picture Of Me (In The Front) And My Family"
"It was originally taken without my dad because my parents were having problems at the time, and so, in wanting a complete family photo, my mother added my dad – cut out from another picture – to it. In that one, his head was 3x larger than ours, facing the wrong way, and his shirt had been marked in with a sharpie marker. When my parents stopped having problems, she changed the photo of him to the one now there. This was also the time that my mom discovered MS Paint. She thought my sister was being disrespectful by wearing an Arachnophobia shirt, so using her paint skills, she whited it out. She printed this gem and put it up in our family home, where it remained on the wall for over ten years.”
#92
“In The Photo Is My Grandpa Holding Me As A Baby In 1989"
"After grandpa retired, he started a side job as a clown, where he’d go to birthday parties and do magic tricks. He also often wore his boxing shorts from his days as a heavyweight boxer at Michigan State. He was dressing up to entertain the grandkids that day, and the boxing/clown combination certainly made for an interesting photo.”
#93
“My Brother Put All He Had On The Dance Floor The Night Of My Parents’ 1987 Christmas Party”
#94
“My Family Owned An Internet Service Provider When I Was Growing Up, And This Was Our Big Promo Shot”
#95
“My Husband Was Taking Pictures The Entire Time. This Is When They Started To Sew Me Up And Apparently The Most Opportune Time To Take A Selfie”
#96
“This Was Taken By A Professional Photographer For My Dance Class In The Late 90’s. Disney Clearly Missed Out On A Star And Her Power Stance”
#97
“Having Your Photo Taken With Thomas And Friends Seemed Pretty Simple"
"You select the engine you wish to be in the photograph, stand in the blue circle, press start button and stand for 5 seconds. But my son wouldn’t remain in the painted circle and so i held him in place at arm’s length so as not to be in the photo myself. When I walked into the souvenir photo shop, the staff were in fits of giggles and this was why.”
#98
“My Grandparents In Hawaii In The Early 70’s. And No, That’s Not Grandma On The Right. She’s On The Left Giving The Stink Eye. If Looks Could Kill, That Hula Girl Wouldn’t Live To See Her Next Luau”
#99
“In 1998, I Was 7 And This Was A Show And Tell. I Told My Classmates, ‘I Went To Africa Over The Weekend And Petted A Lion.’ I Lied”
#100
“The Capacity Was 6. . .we Fit 13”
#101
"Had To Renew My Driving License; Thanks To The Idiot That Stamped My New License, I'm Now Quasimido"
Jerry Mathers 4 years ago
I would keep it. There's a good chance that an officer, seeing this photo, will be letting you off in a ticket due to laughter
#102
Verified “My Sister Found These In Reject Pile From A Childhood Photo Shoot, But We Think These Should Really Have Been Chosen For The Living Room Wall
#103
“When My Husband Was A Teenager, He Got A Phone In His Bedroom With A Caller Id, Which At The Time Was A Big Deal. This Is My Husband’s Dad In The Photo Because He Wanted Some Photos Taken To Show Off The Phone”
#104
“This Was Me In First Grade. My Mom Convinced Me To Cut My Hair ‘Like Demi Moore In Ghost”
#105
” My Daughter Meeting Ronald Mcdonald Back In 1992 When She Was Three”
#106
“When My Father Got Remarried After My Parent’s Divorce, My Mother Went Through The Family Albums And Cut Him Out Of All Of The Family Photos. Using Scissors Became Too Labor Intensive, So She Switched To White-Out”
#107
“My Italian Grandfather On His First Trip To Hawaii”
#108
“My Daughter In Bonbon Land In Denmark, 2004”
#109
“My Husband, His Mother And Sister. My Mother-In-Law Thought She Was Being ‘Artistic'”
#110
“My Kids Learning About The Pigs And The Bees”
#111
“Being A Mom Isn’t Easy So While You Try To Get One Kid To Sleep You’re Also Playing With Another”
#112
“This Is A Picture Of My Wife On Our Wedding Day. I’m Not Certain How She Got Her Leg To Do That But Needless To Say She Is Quite Flexible"
#113
“This Is A Photo Of My Mom, My Brother, Myself, And My Soon To Be Born Younger Brother"
"I’m awkwardly in the hockey equipment on the bottom left. A family friend talked mom into having us all pose for this photo. It went on to win some sort of award in a Newport, RI photo show. It also hung in our house while I was growing up, which made for some awkward moments when friends came over."
#114
“Our Family Is Italian And One Of Our Favorite Traditions Has Always Been Having Stuffed Artichokes On Special Occasions"
"When my first daughter was born we decided to take a family picture with the newest addition to the family with my cousins...and artichokes. I think it’s clear from the photo that my daughter was the only one who found it a little odd.”
#115
“My Wedding: August 2004. In What Has Become Known As A “Family” Thing, Men From His Side Shed Clothes As The Night Goes On. This Is Me And My Husband’s Uncle About Halfway Through Our Reception At A Local Restaurant/Bar”
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What do you think ?
The Crushinator 4 years ago
This list made me so happy!!! I've been feeling shitty after an operation and it feels so good to laugh!
NotTodaySatan!! 4 years ago
These were great! But I must say I'm surprised at all the white couches with kids on them. Mine would look tye dyed in a week! Hahahaha!
girlsrock4ever 4 years ago
Laughing 100 times a day is equivalent to 15 minutes of cardio exercise. So I got about 7.5 minutes of cardio exercise. My heart thanks this post. My stomach and cheeks do not.
The Crushinator 4 years ago
This list made me so happy!!! I've been feeling shitty after an operation and it feels so good to laugh!
NotTodaySatan!! 4 years ago
These were great! But I must say I'm surprised at all the white couches with kids on them. Mine would look tye dyed in a week! Hahahaha!
girlsrock4ever 4 years ago
Laughing 100 times a day is equivalent to 15 minutes of cardio exercise. So I got about 7.5 minutes of cardio exercise. My heart thanks this post. My stomach and cheeks do not.
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