I went to Bartell's Drugstore for the $15.95 little photo. They sit you on a stool behind the counter in front of a white screen, and the cashier takes a quick photo on a cheapo point-and-shoot camera. No kindly Apple iPhone portrait mode.
Anyway, the harsh overhead fluorescent light really highlights all the dark circles, bags and wrinkles. To make it worse, you can't smile for these pictures and now must remove your glasses. People have always hated how they look in passport photos. This new grim faced expression apparently helps the facial scanning recognition. I look like a slightly crazed old lady who just crawled off a long economy flight. Maybe that's the point.
The cashier thanked me for being so nice about my bad picture. She said most people complain bitterly and make her keep trying. With these new mug shot requirements, everyone looks awful unless you have a makeup artist and go to a professional photo studio. You think Taylor Swift got her picture taken at the corner drugstore? I compared it to my old passport photo, back when you were still allowed to smile and wear your glasses and didn't recognize myself. Of course I was 10 years younger then. So it goes.
It wasn't always this way. Most countries initially had no regulations and you could send in any picture, showing what an interesting and nice person you are.
Some examples:
The requirement of a passport for every family member is relatively new. Up until the 1930's, a woman was listed as a footnote on her husband's passport as "Wife of Mr. John Doe."
A chilly and grey Monday morning in Seattle. We're getting his and hers Covid boosters at Safeway to start the week off right.
I'm sure they ascribe to the same philosophy as the DMV when it comes to ID pictures. The DMV want you to look the way you'd look if the cops pulled you over: Startled and disgruntled.
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