Embarrassed by your passport photo?

A survey of five thousand Europeans suggests the British are among the most embarrassed by their passport photos.

While the French and the Norwegians were best pleased with their pictures, the Lexmark investigation found that a fifth of Britons were so uncomfortable with their passport images they hid them from their family.

How bad is your passport image? Why are the British so embarrassed by this?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

---

Your reaction

It was also a great chat-up line Vance Duhaney, UK

When crossing with a colleague from Canada into the US through the tunnel in Detroit the immigration office gave my passport back to my colleague! She then asked where the other person was in the car!!!
Brian, UK

I like my passport photo - it was taken when I was 21 and looking good. Now I'm 24 and looking old.... It's a reminder of my youth!
Chris E, England

A photograph that looks like a good version of me Lyall Davidson, France

I had my passport photo done in Tesco's in Prague by a young woman operating a computerised photo system. She did a great job of getting me to sit properly, get the hair and the tie right, sit on my jacket at the back to pull it tight on the shoulders, to look into the lens and smile with the eyes open. Result, after several tries, a photograph that looks like a good version of me that I could live with for ten years!
Lyall Davidson, France

My passport photo is nowhere near as bad as my driving license photo, in which I look about 15.
Tim Fouracre, UK

When we took our son to the US Embassy to get his US passport we had two sets of photos for him, one of which showed him crying. The woman at the desk handed that set back with the remark "that would be child abuse". Of course, at two years he now looks nothing like his picture at two months. As for mine, I'm perfectly happy with it.
Dave, UK

My daughter will be very angry with me when she gets older. Her first passport photo was taken when she was three hours old and the passport was issued a week after she was born. She's all red and wrinkly!! She was out of Thailand, where she was born, and into Burma and then back into Thailand at the age of three weeks for a visa run.
David, Qatar & UK

With modern digital cameras, computers and photo quality printers it is so easy to do it yourself Adam, UK

With modern digital cameras, computers and photo quality printers it is so easy to do it yourself. I did this for my mother - took a few photos in the comfort of her living room against a plain wall, she chose the one she preferred, I printed it with the right degree of magnification and then cut it out to be the right size. Easy.
Adam, UK

Isn't it appropriate to look dishevelled in your picture? For after a long delayed flight, being crammed into a tiny airplane seat, etc. to lumber up to the customs desk with messy hair, a 5 o'clock shadow and a grimace is appropriate, but if you look good and have a happy expression on your face in your picture, you'll look wrong! For my passport picture I purposely wore casual clothes I most commonly wear travelling, refrained from shaving, adopted a bored expression, and since it was a windy day my hair was a bit messed up, which produced a look that is exactly what I look like after a long trans-Atlantic flight to Europe!
Steve Kenney, USA

There is an old joke that "if you look like your passport photograph, you do need the holiday."
Hyder Ali Pirwany, England

There's a stupid rule about having to have white backgrounds these days! As a very fair skinned, rapidly greying once-upon-a-time strawberry blond, I can barely be seen on my passport photo.
Alister, UK

I thought my passport photo was OK until I presented it at JFK airport only to be told (jokingly, I hope) by an immigration official that I looked like I ought to be on the FBI's 'most wanted' list!
Teresa S, UK

When I arrived in HK, I had to get an ID card. The photo is done by one of several professional looking chaps in the immigration centre in HK. They know all the tricks - lean forwards to eliminate any double chin effects and they won't let you wear glasses, which is a bit odd if you always wear them.
Simon, Hong Kong

You get what you pay for N. Bridgeman, USA

Recently I dug out my 4 passports. One English then 3 American. The contrast of quality was not by country, but by age. The 1959 British was a quality photo. So was the 1970 and 1984 American. Then the 1987 went to pot! From what I remember, in the early years, one had to go to specific places to get a photo. In recent years there are many poorer machine efforts which are acceptable. So if unhappy, check out quality photographers. You get what you pay for today!
N. Bridgeman, USA

If you are bothered about your passport photo, just think, it won't be long before you'll have to take a new photo to put on your identity card that we'll soon all have to carry around..!
Jethro Cotton, Londoner

I had my passport photo taken when I was 16. When using my passport at the age of 24, the customers officer at Heathrow looked at my photo and said, "Ahh, you used to be so pretty"... thanks a lot, mate!
Anna, UK

I once spent 4 hours sitting at immigration control at Sheremetyevo-2 (Moscow) airport after the being refused entry to Russia because I looked like I was wearing one of the Groucho Marx fake glasses/nose/moustache ensembles. Obviously the in vogue disguise for any budding spies out there...
Gaj, UK

The customs officer took and checked it without lifting his eyes DJ, Switzerland

Once, when travelling back home, I gave my passport at Geneva passport control. The customs officer took and checked it without lifting his eyes, then looked up at me as he was about to hand it back, raised both eyebrows, re-opened my passport which he stared at for a while. Then finally looked back up at me and said "What an improvement! You should change that picture". My feelings were torn between being flattered by his compliment and annoyed by his criticism of that picture of me as a teenager (an unflattering period in my life).
DJ, Switzerland

I went to register with the Chilean international police today and had to go and have an almost criminal mug shot holding a board with my name and passport number. I look like I'm in a bad prison movie. Those photo booths are wonderful in comparison!
Helen, Chile (ex UK)

If you look like your passport photograph you need a holiday!
Brian, UK

Travelling to Sweden and back every few weeks gives me the chance to check out if the Customs men are really awake. My picture was taken in October 1993 when I was 2 stone lighter and had very short hair. I am now fat, half bald and have a full beard etc. I look nothing like my old picture at all. I am not embarrassed by the 'double takes' and find this situation amusing. Roll on October and a new passport.
Albert V Richardson, Sweden/UK

My passport pictures are terrible since they changed to the new digital photo format. My current one doesn't look at all like me, I have no features on the transferred picture, you can't tell the colour of my hair or eyes, and the holograms over the top just detract even more from the photo image underneath - its quiet disconcerting because it would be so easy for anyone (if they got hold of it) to claim to be me.
Trudy, UK

I was sick outside the photo booth Lorna, UK

My passport photo was taken the morning after my 21st birthday celebrations. I put loads of make-up on to disguise the greenish tinge to my face, but by the time I got to the local Woolworths where the photo machine was, I had sweated most of it off. I was sick in the gutter outside Woolies, and as soon as my photos were done I was sick outside the photo booth. Unfortunately the booth was right at the back of the store and I had to stand around for 5 minutes waiting for the pictures to develop while a clearly angry and revolted assistant mopped up the mess...
Lorna, UK

Mine was taken ten years ago at the tender age of 16, when I was sporting glasses a la Deidre Barlow and a mad haircut resembling the ears of a King Charles Spaniel. I was also in the middle of a not-so-mild acne outbreak and wearing slouchy clothes which did me no favours at all. To top it off, the cleaning lady had just (nearly) finished cleaning the booth, so there's a big streak of cream cleaner on the photograph that looks like I've had a run-in with a particularly vindictive seagull. NICE!
Heather, UK

I love showing off my passport photo - I have lost about 80lbs since picture was taken.
Astrid, Washington, DC, US

I was on my way driving from Glasgow to Manchester airport and around about Carlisle realised my passport was out of date. Did a quick detour to Liverpool and begged and begged Passport HQ to make me a new one in time for the flight in 2 hours. They kindly obliged, but the toll of all the stress got to me, and my resulting photo has me with bright red, blotchy, heavily tear-stained face, with 'weary-but-grateful' eyes! Boy was I glad when I got married last year and got to change it for my married name's sake!
Alison, Scotland

The passport agency didn't scan it very well and I came out looking like a ghost Daniel Clarke, UK

My passport horror story happened in Slovakia at 3am while on a night train. My passport was one of the first to use scanned photos, rather than real photos glued in. The passport agency didn't scan it very well and I came out looking like a ghost. All very amusing until the border guards decided this was unacceptable because they could not see me, and demanded I show more ID. Trying to explain to them using my pocket phrase book that I'd had my wallet stolen and had no more ID, while they were huffing and puffing and shrugging their shoulders, with me nervously eyeing their pistols, resulted in me shaking by the time they finally let me through!
Daniel Clarke, UK

Everybody I know looks very glum on their passport photos. They think they should not be smiling on a official document. I on the other hand decided I wanted to show-off my best smile. The result is I look as if I am sitting on a feather ! Maybe my friends were right.
Marrina, UK

My partner recently needed a passport-style photo in France. We couldn't find a machine so he had it taken professionally, for cheaper than the machines are here and just as quick, and the photos were lovely. No wonder the French are happier passports!
B, UK

I remember an ex-girlfriend of mine was so paranoid about her passport pictures looking pale and washed out, making her look like a corpse. She spent ages making sure her make up was "perfect" only to find the pictures made her look like a clown - bright red cheeks, nose and lips, and pure white over the rest of the face. I still laugh when I see the picture...
Scotty, UK

Is there a victim support line for this? M, England

My passport photo looked like a criminal's mugshot. I hated it so much I had a professional photo taken in a studio abroad and I had 50 copies made. Now I don't need to go to one of those "Photo Me" booths ever again! I wish I could sue them for all the trauma they've caused me. By the way, is there a victim support line for this? :)
M, England

I love my passport photo as even though I've changed a great deal - I've lost about 4 stone and aged 5 years - it reminds me perfectly of my 17 year old self. the dyed black spiky hair, puppy fat and dodgy makeup might look awful but I loved being that age and I get very nostalgic looking at it!
claire, UK

I've had more fun with my passport in far-flung countries than I ever thought possible. In a remote part of India, an immigration officer held it up high, shouted across the room (containing about 200 people) to his colleague saying "Look at this one!!". In Turkey, I was once charged half the visa fee because the official took pity on me! In LA, I was threatened with deportation on sight, and even managed to fend off a shyster in Jakarta who wanted to buy it for his 'collection'!! It really is my pride and joy, and I don't want to have to update it!
Phil, UK

The passport has a 10-year lifespan, while the trends rarely last more than a year or two Alex, London

It's because we're so incredibly trendy, us Brits. Trouble is, the passport has a 10-year lifespan, while the trends rarely last more than a year or two.

A note to Emma (below), who is thinking about sticking a picture of Kermit over her face... I was in a check-in queue behind a small stag group last year, and the stags friends had done exactly this to his passport. The check-in staff were unimpressed, threatened not to let him fly, and considered calling in the police for altering his passport!
Alex, London, UK

Sure, my photo is dreadful. I hate to show it to people. However, these days I'm more embarrassed that it says "United States of America".
David Fuccillo, NYC, USA

You don't have to be British to hate your passport photo... I sure hated mine, as well as my ID card photo (requied in my country, but it's not bad as you think). Anyway, as a photographer I can tell you that it's not your fault that you look bad in these 'mugshots'. The strong flash creates a flat lighting with ugly shadows, this is the main reason. Poor camera lens and focal length is the second reason. Oh, and David Fuccillo, LOL!!
Armand, Romania

I have a unique nose. So whenever an official keeps comparing my ever-changing hairstyle and facial expression to my photo, I just point out this feature. It works!
Adrienne, Hungary

One day I might implement my plan of gluing a picture of Kermit the frog onto my passport Emma, UK

I'm not sure there's much reason to be embarrassed, given the fact that I'm not entirely sure airport officials even check passport photos anymore. My passport photo was taken several years ago, when I had inch-long hair; quite a different appearance to the shoulder-length hair I now possess. On recent trips abroad, staff have barely glanced at the photo, let alone check if it is really me. One day I might implement my plan of gluing a picture of Kermit the frog onto my passport, to see if they notice anything!
Emma, UK

Whilst travelling from the Canadian Rockies to Seattle I had to present my passport at the U.S. border. The border patrolman took one look at the photo in my passport and spent the next two minutes laughing so much he couldn't speak. He tried to apologise, claiming he hadn't had much sleep the night before and then proceeded to laugh uncontrollably again for another couple of minutes. Far from being embarrassed by his outburst I was rather proud of the effect my passport photograph had.
Steve Whittingham,England

The entertainment value alone is worth the bad pictures Nicola, UK

What else do you do when waiting in these long lines for the officials to check you over - apart from jostle your partners passport from their grip and laugh hysterically? The entertainment value alone is worth the bad pictures.
Nicola, UK

Maybe it's the simple fact that most British people are ugly!
Michael M, Germany

Maybe it's the simple fact that most Germans don't have a sense of humour?
Bob, UK

My son's passport photo was taken when he was 3 months old, he's 3 years old now and it's valid until he's 5. How any customs official knows it's the same child is beyond me. I'm his mother and I'd struggle.
Lorraine, UK

I like the old saying that if you look like your passport picture then you're probably too ill to be travelling. I don't care one way or the other about mine. It's an ID document, not a fashion portfolio.
John B, UK

I am not embarrassed by my photo. Yes it looks bad. But, after travelling for 12/14 hours I look exactly like it! Oh the joys international travel!
Laura, UK

I think the quality of photo booths could be to blame, who's really going to look their best with 1970s crimpoline curtain behind them, whilst being blinded by a flash bulb, safe in the knowledge they're going to look awful when the strip of photos emerge, to reveal your hideous alter-ego. I look like a prostitute in mine.
Jayne, UK

In Victorian days, fashionable ladies "swooned" when they heard a naughty word. These days the affectation du jour is to "hate having my photo taken". Give it a few years and it'll be something else ...
Bob Peters, United Kingdom

People are only embarrassed by their photos because they spent £2.50 on them in a little machine, when for a bit more they could get a decent shot done by a photographer.
Justin Rowles, UK

I love my passport photo. It was taken before I had my daughter and I've got a lovely slim face!
Liz, Uk

I'm not embarrassed by the photo, just the fact that Customs Officers the world over look at my passport, then me, then decide I need to be frisked Marcus, UK

Even though I had my photo taken only last year, I've now grown my hair and look slightly different. I'm not embarrassed by the photo, just the fact that Customs Officers the world over look at my passport, then me, then decide I need to be frisked. That embarrasses me more than anything.
Marcus, UK

Passport photo's always remind me of the really bad bus pass pictures we had as kids!!
Darren, England, UK

I still keep my first passport with my 7 years old picture in it secured to my current one - this has proven very useful at awkward entry points where grizzled, grumpy guards have gone gooey over the cute little blonde girl. Although persuading them that the CLBG is the same sweating, back-pack wielding harpy in front of them is not always so easy!
Susan, UK

If they made it easier to get a new passport then people could keep their photo's up-to-date and we'd all be happier.
Paul Chorley, UK

It's not something you hang on the wall or pass around with your holiday snaps, is it? You show it to an immigration official or check-in clerk at each end of your journey, and that's all it's for. What's the problem? For what it's worth, I have no particular opinion of my own passport photo. It shows what I look like, and that's as much as it needs to do.
David Hazel, UK

My passport photo is horrific. It was taken when I was about thirteen and when I had a crazy bowl cut hairstyle. Now when I use it as proof of age at clubs and pubs all the door staff pass it around and obliterate me with abuse. Not a confidence boost when you are out on the pull!
Martin, England, Essex

I got mine took several years ago now after a weekend on the beer, running to the chemist before it shut in slight drizzle before heading off to do my driving theory test!!! I look like I've been dug up to be honest, but I quite like it as it reminds me of what a good weekend I had and how worried I was about by theory test!
Jon, England