Everyone hates their own photo
You’re not alone in that. Every client I’ve ever worked with has said the same thing. Being in front of a camera feels uncomfortable, awkward and, if we’re honest, a bit exposing. It’s hard to relax, and even harder to feel like the final image truly represents you.
The doubts creep in quickly. Do I look like the person I think I am? Am I presenting my business in the right way? Will this connect with my audience? Do people really want to see my face across my website? It’s easy to compare yourself to others and feel like you don’t quite measure up.
“The drawing shows me at one glance what might be spread over ten pages in a book.” – Fathers and Sons by Ivan S. Turgenev, 1862.
The reality. The science doesn’t lie. People buy from people.
Take a moment to think about how you approach a meeting with a potential client. You prepare, you do your homework, and often you’ll look them up beforehand. When you’ve already seen someone’s face before walking into the room, something shifts. You feel more at ease. There’s a sense of recognition. The conversation starts more naturally and the connection happens faster.
That isn’t accidental. Humans are wired to trust what feels familiar. Psychologists refer to it as the mere exposure effect. The more we see something, the more comfortable we feel with it. A good photograph creates that familiarity before you’ve even had a conversation. When someone lands on your website or your LinkedIn profile and sees your face, you’re no longer just a name or a logo. You’re a person. And that changes how you’re perceived.
Part of the discomfort we feel about our own image comes from the idea that a photograph is permanent. It feels like a single moment, frozen in time, representing you indefinitely. That’s a lot of pressure to place on one image. In reality, we all know we don’t look the same every day. A poor night’s sleep, a long week, or simply catching the wrong moment can change how we feel about how we look.
In everyday life, we accept that. But when it’s captured in a photograph, it suddenly feels fixed, as though that’s how we’ll always be seen. The truth is, it isn’t. We take photos constantly now. Phones, selfies, video calls. Your image is not one static moment; it’s a collection of impressions over time.
A photograph is simply a glimpse of reality. It cuts through the version we have in our heads and shows how others actually see us. That can feel uncomfortable, but it’s also where its power lies. As Ivan Turgenev once wrote, “The drawing shows me at one glance what might be spread over ten pages in a book.” A single image communicates instantly what words often cannot.
This is where brand photography comes into its own. It isn’t about taking a nice picture. It’s about understanding who you are, what your business stands for, and how you want to be seen.
I spoke to Lucy Holding at a recent event and asked her exactly that. Her answer went far beyond the camera. It starts with conversation. Understanding the business, the person behind it, what drives them, and what they want to achieve. It’s not just about taking photos; it’s about translating all of that into something visual.
That process does something interesting. It forces clarity. You begin to think more deeply about your business. Your message becomes sharper. Your positioning becomes clearer. And that clarity feeds directly into the images being created.
From there, everything becomes intentional. What you wear, where the photos are taken, how you present yourself. It’s all considered and aligned with how you want to be perceived. The result is not just a good photo, but a set of images that genuinely represent you and your business.
At its core, brand photography is about connection. It shortens the distance between you and your audience. It helps people feel like they know you before they’ve even met you. In a world where people are overwhelmed with choice, that human connection is often what makes the difference.
It’s not about vanity. It’s about visibility.
I’ll be honest, I’ve had photos taken that I didn’t like. In fact, I recently had one taken by Lucy that, objectively, is a great image, and I still struggled with it. But I’m using it anyway. Because it does its job. It shows me as I am, it helps people recognise me, and it makes it easier for someone to start a conversation.
And that’s what really matters.