The purpose of school photos has changed, hasn't it?

[merzeemee]

When I was a child in the 1970/80's the School Photo was an annual opportunity for a professional shot of me and my brother smiling, sitting still, and looking clean and smart in our uniforms. They were proudly bought, distributed to grandparents, compared from year to year, and fondly looked back on - especially the class photos of familiar faces with gradually forgotten names.

Now I'm a secondary school parent, I see them differently. They're an annual opportunity for the school to get cheap (free?) photos of every child and teacher. The childrens' photos are attached to their records in the school's Management Information System, helping staff to put faces to names. They are also used as profile pictures on school Microsoft accounts, so teachers and students remotely interacting via Teams can see a face rather than just a name. The teachers' photos are put on the wall of a corridor, again to help everyone to put faces to names.

The cost to the school is kept low because the photography firm makes its money from selling copies of the photos to parents, which is fine, so long as the quality of the photos remains high, and parents continue to buy photos.

Unfortunately, I haven't bought my children's individual school photos for the past 6 years, because they are always on an ugly mottled blue background, and I can take nicer pictures myself at home. I don't think the photographer makes any effort at all to take photos that are relaxed or flattering, and they are overpriced. I do buy the group photos, but certainly not every year. (This year the group photo was a clever montage of the whole year group's individual photos - a covid memento we weren't expecting because only individual shots were taken!).

Do you buy your child's school photo every year?

I read somewhere ( cannot remember where unfortunately) that one purpose of the annual school photo was to have an up to date image of a child if in extreme circumstances they went missing or worse

I don’t buy them because they’re disgustingly overpriced and I think it’s really crappy way to rinse parents of money.

There a ripe off then packs you have to buy are not suitable to everyone you end up spending a fortune and wasting some.

We used to go to max speilmans the took pictures there and you could order what u want .

I'm pretty sure it's money raising for the school. When DD was at nursery, they had a photographer in, and we got a choice of about 20 photos in various poses where they managed to get her to smile naturally etc. Then we got her school photos - a choice of 2, neither of which suggested she wanted to be there, for the same price (per photo) as the nursery ones.....

I don’t bother with school photos as I wouldn’t display it. I get some photos taken every year outdoors in a beautiful location with clothes of my choosing.

My child does a weird fixed smile if asked to smile so they are never nice natural photos.

The childrens' photos are attached to their records in the school's Management Information System, helping staff to put faces to names.
I remember a teacher having a long reel of little photos back in the 70 sorting them out for school records

The purpose of school photographs has always been to make money!

I've never bought school photos...... Well I bought one set one year because it was hilarious. My precious boy with a fixed grin making him look like a manic serial killer...... It has pride of place in my dining room until ds spots it and hides it.

I have never bought them once and in fact ask for my children not to take part in individual ones tas it is a waste of time and resources.

I think it was started to have an up to date image of children, I feel it must be a legal requirement as all schools do it.

@Knittedfairies

The purpose of school photographs has always been to make money!

First for records purpose and making money as a spin off

My kids always look terrible on their school photos. The recent photo/proof my daughter brought home yesterday bears no resemblance to her at all. I rarely buy them. The lighting, posing, angle etc. is always really poor. Maybe photography is a dying art?

It must be the policy now.
However, it's not nice for the kids who feel self conscious about their picture or if the photo didn't turn out well.
If the photo doesn't turn out well, then parents choose not to buy it - yet it's still used by the school to identify students.

ds has only had one school photo, first year in secondary and it was that bad we didn't buy, but disappointed he hasn't had another one in the last 4 years so we could get a least one in secondary.

They are also used as profile pictures on school Microsoft accounts, so teachers and students remotely interacting via Teams can see a face rather than just a name.

ds's school allow them to put their own photos up (within reason), so they have a mixture of dogs, cats, etc. The boys in his class all took photos of each other and put them up on their own profiles, seems to be a class joke that most of the boys have the wrong picture, with many of them using the same picture of one boy. He swears the teachers don't mind and think it is funny too

I haven't bought any for the last few years, probably since my youngest was in year 4 or 5.
I did buy the yr 6 class group ones.
I think they're usually a bit crap or terribly self consciously 'fun'. The old fashioned whole class tiered with the teacher at the side was great but individual ones have lost their specialness.

I don't buy them every year, but I did this year, and copies for both sets of grandparents too, just as you describe in your first paragraph. I have lots of photos of my kids but it's lovely to have them looking smart in their school uniform.

Never buy individual ones if I know a class photo will be done at some point. (Unusual in secondary here). We love class photos as a family. I love my mum's from the 1930s. I love mine from the 1960s and I love my dcs' from the 2000s. They are all the same! Cheeky, serious, lunch on jumpers, sun in their eyes etc. Brilliant social history for clothes, hairstyles. Must get them out again

School photos are dreadful- quality and price. I only occasionally buy the class photos so the DC have a picture with their classmates.

The big companies move the kids through so quickly that they don't even have time to smile or sit properly. And what's with photos at a 45 degree angle? Or ridiculous props in primary photos, especially when the props have chipped paint or look grubby. Why the stupid poses for primary DC as well?

I take hundreds of photos of my DC every year where they are smiling and look good. Why pay through the nose for an awful one?

The earlier PP got it right- the purpose of the school photo was so there is a recent clear photo of children in case they should go missing. It is still the main purpose now.

The other uses (ID on school systems, money spinner) are an added bonus.

I bought them every year at Primary, except P7 for my youngest, when they also missed their class photo (only done every second year). These didn't happen because of Covid.

Secondary school takes S1, S4 (last mandatory year) and S6 (last optional year).

Eldests S1 photo was one of them looking awful as they'd been ill, so I didn't buy that. S4 photos cancelled because of covid. They left before S6, so no secondary school photos at all.

Youngest were cancelled in S1 due to covid. Not sure if they'll get the chance this year, but they likely won't want it done.

I bought my sons reception photo as that is a big milestone, his year 1 and 2 pictures were so hilarious I had to buy them. Year 1 was the typical grimace of a child who doesn’t know how to smile, this years year 2 photo he couldn’t have looked more miserable if he tried.

DD's primary school had a lovely photographer. They did two photos a year. Not even my photographer sister could capture portraits like that.
I love the class group photo - which I obviously couldn't snap myself.

No I never buy them. I hate school uniform and it does not make me happy to see my kids in it.

In primary school, I used to buy them, but they are very expensive. I haven't had the opportunity to buy one in secondary., because I don't think they are done. I'd buy a class one for DD in Y11 or 12 for the memories but nothing else. I take photos of her on my phone which usually capture her better anyway.

Going against the grain here but I like them and still buy them most years. I love having a snapshot of a particular point in their school journey to display and of course they make good pressies for the grandparents. My parents still have mine and my siblings and I think it’s so sweet.

Yes, we have a lot of digital photos of these days but we hardly ever print them out unless we need to for some sort of project. Having said that, I agree they are hideously overpriced but if some of that cost is passed back to the school, then I actually don’t mind. One year, DH decided he was going to do them himself, he took the snaps and never got them printed!