Model Nails The Anxiety We All Feel About Being Tagged In Photos

Model has an inspiring take on bad social media photos

You know that completely shitty feeling you get when you see a bad picture of yourself tagged on social media? Suddenly, you’re looking at every single unappealing detail on your face and body — the acne scars you had forgotten to cover up, the hint of a double chin, the tiredness in your eyes. The list feels endless and you quickly untag the photo — and then contemplate begging your friend to take it down.

Well, model Megan Jayne Crabbe is here to say that you should embrace those so-called bad social media photos. No, seriously. Her logic is actually pretty airtight. Crabbe, who blogs at Bodyposipanda, posted a side-by-side picture of herself that she had taken, and one that had been posted of her. The former is completely posed. The latter is totally candid.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd–iURl0sc/?hl=en&taken-by=bodyposipanda

“These pictures are both me,” she wrote. “On the same day. In the same clothes. Neither one represents me more or less than the other. Neither one is better or worse. But I know that’s hard to believe about yourself.”

Crabbe went on to explain that she totally understands the inclination to pick apart all the flaws in your tagged photos. After all, you didn’t get the chance to carefully curate them before sharing them with the world.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdayoathPoS/?hl=en&taken-by=bodyposipanda

“I know that when you see a photo of yourself the first thing you do is zoom in on all the parts you believe aren’t good enough,” she wrote. “That’s why we struggle with pictures taken of us while we’re just living – we weren’t able to minimize those parts in advance.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbnE-FAhVWf/?hl=en&taken-by=bodyposipanda

You should look at the picture with a healthy amount of perspective, she said. Think about what you were doing when that picture was taken, and how you felt that day — not about how you looked at that exact moment, from that exact angle.

“Zoom out. To the whole picture. I want you to remember what that photo was for. It wasn’t for the cover of a magazine. You weren’t expected to look like an airbrushed supermodel. It was taken to capture a moment. That’s it…remember that sight, that smell, that feeling, that joy. Remember the living.”

“Zoom out (swipe…) and you’ll see that the whole picture tells a much more important story than how you looked. And that every version of you is worthy of being seen.”

So, basically, next time someone tags you in a picture you absolutely hate, take a deep breath, and zoom out. The feeling you had on that beach, or eating that amazing burger, will far outweigh some weird lighting. I promise.