Say cheese!

By Amy Heesacker

My children recently brought home their school pictures, a stranger's attempt to capture the essence of what makes each child unique and special in their parents' eyes. These professional photos will hang for years on the wall of our stairway, before we know it becoming two of many such posed portraits, and yet the whole collection representing only a few pixels worth of the high definition personalities we know and love.

My 5-year-old son is a vision in blue: blue background, blue shirt (chosen by me -- one of the last few times he'll probably let me get away with it) and the bluest of baby blue eyes. He looks off to his left at the unfamiliar photographer. His smile is forced, for sure, but sweet as a pot of honey. His expression hints at a kindergartner's innocent excitement, hopeful anticipation, and (could it be?) a growing sense of independent courage all preserved on Kodak paper with a matte finish.

My 2-year-old daughter's picture in pink makes me smirk because of how hard I know the photographer worked to get this one usable proof. While the father of her twin classmates had a stack of poses to choose from, we were given only one. Her eyes gleam with preschool mischief, and it is her eyes more so than her mouth that suggest a smile of a girl who is getting away with more than we suspect, the corners of her rosy lips slightly turned down. Someone (her teacher?) obviously combed her hair just prior to the shot because I've never seen her so well-groomed.

Can I find in my son's eyes a twinkle of the silly boy who loves to clown his sister into fits of giggles? Is that my little man's stubborn chin jutting out just a bit as he digs his feet in and stands his ground? Where is that dramatic love look I see in my daughter as she lunges at me for a bear hug and snuggle? Do I see a slight quiver in the lower lip of a girl whose cry could break the hardest of hearts? Perhaps my daughter's expression reflects her laughing at the photographer's attempt to confine her spirit and energy to one frame of film -– even she at two years old knows that this is absurd.

Many things were hidden in that split second flashbulb moment of school picture time, but a mommy can always find them.

Amy Heesacker is a thirty-something SAHM and part-time psychology professor living in the deep South with her husband and two children.

Comments

[mcewen]

I have that habit too, probably reading too much into what I 'read' in their work - but it helps keep me sane, and attempt to be like everyone else.
Best wishes

[lauri Jon]

Amy, what a beautiful post. Your writing was so visual. I'll never think of photographs the same way.

[Karen]

I loved your post. Very well written... so descriptive. I love Dotmoms! :)

[Jeanne Levy]

Amy, you are a wonder at capturing in the most descriptive and essential words something all moms have experienced. Now I feel it's been explained to me what I was actually feeling when I saw each year's photos. Thanks. You brought happy tears to my eyes ... again. - Jeanne

[Robin P]

Lillianna's school pictures usually come out cute but she really shines when she has her professional dance photos taken 2 weeks before her dance recital.

These photographers ask questions about the child's favorite type of dance and they pose them in a beautiful dance pose and make them smile a genuine smile. The difference between school and dance pictures is amazing and I think it's because she is relaxed and happy when she is in her costume in the dance studio and tense and uneasy posing for a school pic.

I often wonder where my real child is when I look at the school pictures but then I see her smile and the sparkle in her eye in the dance photos and I know.....that's my girl.

[jenn]

I love your writing style, very descriptive and very true. school photos are not usually my favorite, because they do seem so forced. However I have seen a few that have captured the true essence of the child.