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
#1 "My Grandma Got Bit By A Pelican On The Pier And Then Began To Scold It"
Image credits: awkwardfamilyphotos
#2 “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”
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#3 "My All Time Favorite Picture Of My Sister. She Was 6, Tired, And Had Just Tried Sparkling Grape Juice. Not A Fan"
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#4 "Dad Didn't Have Much Luck In The Arm Wrestling Circuit, But He Has High Hopes For His Boy"
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#5 "We Just Wanted A Nice Family Photo"
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#6 "When It’s Your First Day Of Kindergarten And Also Your First Day As Head Of The Pta"
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#7 “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”
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#8 "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"
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#9 “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!”
Image credits: awkwardfamilyphotos
#10 “I Got A Life Sized Barbie When I Was 7 And My Brother Had Other Ideas”
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#11 “My Poor Daughter Never Heard The End Of It From Her Siblings After Her Heartbreaker Tee Shirt Turned To Fartbreaker For School Pictures"
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#12 "My Dad In High School (1959) vs. Me In High School (1986)"
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#13 “My Sister Looking Like She’s Gonna Tear My Head Off When I Was An Infant Being Held By My Dad”
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#14 “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.”
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#15 "A Valentines Day Card From A Student Of Mine"
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#16 “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?”
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#17 “My Husband As An Infant. I Prayed Our Children Would Not Inherit His Large Cranium”
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#18 "My Favorite Picture Of My Parents. Them On Their Wedding Day. 1991"
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#19 “Our Daughter Would Not Cooperate For Her Photos. She Was Doing Everything But Smiling. Here She Is Getting Ready To 'Hulk' Out”
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#20 "I Was Born In 1981 But Turned 55 In 1992"
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#21 "My Daughter Was Supposed To Be A Flower Girl In Her Aunt's Wedding But Napping Is Life (And She Was Safely Strapped In)"
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#22 “A Photo My Mom Captured Of My Then Two Year Old Daughter"
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#23 "My Great Grandma And Her Twin Sister In Springfield, Missouri. The Original Inspiration For The Shining I’m Sure"
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#24 "My Parents Wedding Day, 1980s"
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#25 "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."
Image credits: awkwardfamilyphotos
#26 “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!”
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#27 “It Was 1990 So I Guess My Parents Thought They’d Dress Me Up Like A New Wave Recording Artist”
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#28 "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"
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#29 "Vintage 1984 Polaroid Of Mr. T Pitying Me As A Baby With My Mom"
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#30 “The Photographer Kept Telling My Son To “Smile More!” And This Was His Version Of Smiling “More””
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#31 "My Daughter Would Not Stop Crying Until She Got Her Own Cone Of Shame"
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#32 "I Apologize For My Crimes Against The Ozone Layer. High School Graduation, 1989"
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#33 "My Mother And Grandmother Demonstrating Safety Standards In The 1960s"
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#34 “This Is My Sister Graduating High School Back When You Had To Wait To Get Photos Developed”
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#35 “It’s Hard To Get All 4 Brothers To Behave For A Picture But The Oldest Sure Tried To Keep Everyone In Line”
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#36 "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"
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#37 "Found At My Parents. Not Sure If I Should Laugh Or Cry?"
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#38 "My Great-Grandfather's Passport Photo From 1978"
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#39 “Thirteen Of Grandma’s Grandchildren Were In The House For A Couple Days Around Christmas-Time. She Was Pretty Exhausted”
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#40 “Grandma Made These Wonderful Crochet Vests For Each Of My Husband’s Siblings. He Looks Strangely Happy About It. (Far Right)”
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#41 “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”
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#42 "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!”
Image credits: awkwardfamilyphotos
#43 "Here Is My Dad With My Grandma In 1956 At The Snow King Chair Lift"
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Image credits: awkwardfamilyphotos
