When you look at old photographs of yourself, do you recognise them as "you"?

[OnlyByGrace]

I have had a bit of a trip down memory lane today after discovering my diary from when I was 16 (I'm 25 now) and photos from my childhood. However I feel completely disconnected from all of my "past selves" and feel like I am looking in on someone else's childhood and teenage years.

I have been going through a bit of a rough time with anxiety the last 3 years so I am not sure whether it is because of that that I feel like I am complete shell of a person compared to the 16 year old me writing the diary entries. I know 9 years is a long time but I don't recognise any of it as "me" and that makes me sad. I feel like I am old before my time and looking back wistfully at my school years when it wasn't even that long ago. I feel like I have let her down.

I know it is a bit of a weird question but when you look at old photographs and videos of yourself do you recognise them as you? I just find it bizarre looking back at old photographs and realising that the timeline of the life of the child or teenager in those photographs ends up in the present day as being me? I am struggling to properly articulate but I hope you know what I mean.

I usually think “why did I think I looked so repulsive” when I just looked like a normal teenager/young woman.

Ditto @basildiffuser. I was quite an attractive teenager/ young woman judging by the few photographs i have. I honestly thought I was absolutely hideous. Of course, now I'm older I know it was probably internalised misogyny finding an outlet.

I dont feel its me. I just think how pretty or how many potentials. But i dont feel about my photis the same when i look in the mirror.. mind you the other day even in the mirror couldnt believe how big my arse got.

I tend to remember the 'time' that the picture was taken - what we were doing, who I was with, rather than the 'me' in the picture.

Except for one, spectacularly bad picture of me with my horse, where I didn't even recognise myself and wondered who the old man holding my horse was... (I am female was was about 40 at the time).

Yes, the very old ones are definitely me, nice enough looking, size 10.
It’s the much more recent ones where I wonder who on earth this hideous old size 14 hag can be.

I look at old pictures and I see me. I'm happy, I have youth, looks and optimism.

I look in a mirror now and I see someone I don't like.

Aged 32-38 I looked very different as I was going through a difficult time & it showed but in my photos prior to & after that time I just look like a younger me (I'm 43).

Yes, it's me now I hardly recognise.

I’ve always been like this and unfortunately I don’t think you easily grow out of assessing your life like this. It takes something from you because you see loss of who you were and you feel the time that goes by, you feel the changes and wonder how you got here. All I can say is try to live in the moment because one day it also becomes the past and you don’t want to always be referring to the past and comparing how things once were. We only have so much time and it’s all equally precious. People and life inevitably change when getting older and you will miss who you were (our younger selves are always more carefree) but grab life in the now and make the most of it. Best of luck