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?

[Practicebeingpatient]

I wouldn't feel bad about not buying them. The take up at our school was very small. We were lucky if 20 parents out of the 180 students in Y7 bought anything. Even at those levels the company was making enough to pay the school a small commission and to want to come back the following year.

[NapoleonOzmolysis]

They take them in Year 7, 10 and 12 here. In his year 7 one, DS looks like he's high on something as his pupils are massive and his mouth is gaping open, but not quite as high as whoever cut his hair last. He was off when they took the year 10 photos so he's stuck looking like a plonker on Edulink for another two years now

[waitingforlifeonmars]

I always thought the purpose of school photos was when people didn't readily take photos, there was always one the police could use in case the child went missing.
There will also be family's who don't take photos of there kids even in this day and age.

The fact that schools make money is a bonus to the school.

Worst photo background ever was a graffiti background at my kids primary school one year.

[Dartsplayer]

I bought them all in primary school but I secondary school. They only do them in Y7 and Y11 thankfully

[DumplingsAndStew]

@BoredZelda

That's awful. When will people realise that equality isn't making all children do the same thing?!

My youngest has always had huge school anxiety. For a period, her coping mechanism was to pretend she was a cat when she was in any uncomfortable situation.

I remember a few years back, writing a note to the teacher to say "It's totally fine if Dumpling wants to wear her kitty ears for her school photo, if it means she gets it done". Then the teacher had to argue this with the photographer who was, initially, refusing to take her photo unless she took them off!

It's one of my favourite photos of her - sums her and her quirky self up perfectly.

When mine were younger, I always tried to have photos taken of them around Halloween in their costumes. My favourite one of my eldest is when she was two, one where she'd just been crying, had tears in her eyes. She's pulled out one of her pigtails, the witch hat headband she had on is falling off to one side. The photographer threw a feather boa to her, and captured it right as her eyes lit up and she reached out to grab it. It's beautiful and imperfect and perfect at the same time.

[Lifethroughlenses]

@Blueuggboots Same! Darned if I’m paying £20 when I can’t see my kids eyes and every single photo on my iPhone is better.

[DanceItOut]

Nope I buy every few years if the photo is decent. Mainly because I would rather pay a photographer more myself to get a photo that I am happy with than have a quickly taken not so nice photo of my child from the school photographer and be charged £28 for the privilege.

[Owl55]

School photos have always been a means of raising money for school funds ! Some photographers take real care and take a few photos of each child and print the best photo , it’s up to parents to say can we change the format and perhaps the school will listen . Photographs have become increasingly expensive too😢

[bellie710]

I stopped buying them mainly because they were crap but also the photographer used to always have one sitting, standing and kneeling or various arrangements with the oldest always standing. Unfortunately DD2 is taller than DD1 and they always switched them round even though I specifically said I want DD1 standing. After 3 times of asking not to do it I stopped getting the photo, but to be honest there was never one that wasn't staged and ugly that I would buy!

[SardineJam]

I have never bought a school photo for either DS, I can take much nicer natural looking ones for free

[marktayloruk]

Only at primary school for me.

[NortieTortie]

Haven't bought my eldest DC's reception/year 1 photos or my youngest's nursery/year 1 because the last couple of years they've only done full class pictures! I'm not paying £20+ for the top left corner of DC's forehead

Unfortunate.

[CauliflowerBalti]

I buy them because my son’s friends’ parents do and frame them up the stairs and stuff like that. It belatedly occurred to me a few years ago that my boy might feel sad that I’d never bought one. But they’re always shit. This year we did his hair nicely and his photo was after lunch when he’d been playing chase with his friends. His hair is dripping wet and stuck to his head. His smile is very pained. But. We ordered one. Sigh.

[Lokdok]

This makes no sense at all. They can take pictures whenever they need to. School photo style pics wouldn’t serve any of the use cases you’re suggesting.

[Tictocrobot]

On the whole, school photographers aren’t actually ‘photographers’ - they are shown how to set up the light and backdrop in a particular way and away they go. This is why some of you have experienced pretty rubbish photos with not much thought.

[CauliflowerBalti]

@waitingforlifeonmars

I always thought the purpose of school photos was when people didn't readily take photos, there was always one the police could use in case the child went missing.
There will also be family's who don't take photos of there kids even in this day and age.

The fact that schools make money is a bonus to the school.

Worst photo background ever was a graffiti background at my kids primary school one year.

I’ve told my son he needs to lay off getting kidnapped and murdered this year as I’m not giving that photo to the police… ;-)

[BalloonSlayer]

When I worked in a school, us staff only had our photos done once. We all got a free copy. Many teachers were faintly offended when it turned out their Mums didn't want their photo

[randomsabreuse]

My DD is a pale redhead who is pretty photogenic in most lights. We've kept the very comedic proofs from her school photos where she basically blends with the background and half of her hair seems to get auto edited out...

[Lennybenny]

I haven't bought photos for either of my 2 ds in years. They're just too expensive for me.... though ds2 has told me they all tried to slip gang signs etc into photos this year so I may get his for a laugh(he's Y11 as well)

[BleshRed]

I have a “my first day in X year” sent home to buy each year of primary too - the photos are awful quality and DC generally aren’t smiling. I take nicer photos on the doorstep every year!

[Whyyyyyyyohhhhhwhyyyyyy]

I always buy them and I'm gutted that the year 7 photos weren't done because of 'covid'
The next school photo for my eldest isn't until year 11 :(

I wouldn't say they were overpriced either considering you can go to a professional photographer and pay cheap for a photoshoot then fork out hundreds for a basic package of the photos taken.

If your child isn't great at having their photo taken that's not on the photographer, alot of time and effort goes into making the photos look nice, but only so much can be done when your little ones pull silly faces.

[QueeniesCroft]

My parents told me that the reason they only bought school photos (although only ever one, never the full set) every other year was that the police could manage with that when I was abducted and murdered. They were cheery folks, my parents.
The photos were never displayed, either. At least, mine wasn't.

[toocold54]

In the school I work at photos are taken on the first couple of days by a member of staff - these aren’t shown to the parents and are strictly for the school database.

Then school photographers come in once a year and take professional photos which parents can purchase but the money goes to that company and not the school itself. I assume the school might get something out of it but they don’t seem the push parents into buying them.

[MumsteadPlum]

I loathe them. I don't know any parents who can't (and don't) capture lovely images of their kids with a phone camera on a regular basis. The idea of paying money for pictures of my own kids, forced into hideous polyester uniforms, baffles me. I don't really understand why it's still a thing these days.

[earthyfire]

I've bought all my kids school photos every year. Secondary school ones are £12 which I think is reasonable and I like them.