75 Awkward Family Photos People Still Cringe At To This Day (New Pics)

Life was much different before the digital age. We didn’t have instant access to information or the mundanity in the lives of our families, friends, and acquaintances. Photos were primarily private unless you showed people physical copies.

But as they say, everything on the internet is permanent and public property. Once your awkward family photos go online, they are available for the world to see. If you’re that unlucky, they will be featured on an Instagram page with over a million followers.

We’ve lifted some of those pictures from the Awkard Family Photos account. Hopefully, you won’t see your face there, but if you do, don’t worry. It’s all in good fun.

#1 “My Mom Said This Was One Of My Favorite Things To Do As A Child.”⁠

#2 “He Always Posed For Photos In The Past. Maybe He Didn’t Like The Photographer.”⁠

#3 “We Were Doing Family Photos For My Sister’s Bat Mitzvah. The Photographer Told Us To Make Funny Faces But My Mom Took It To The Next Level…”⁠

#4 “My Sisters And I Were Professionally Photographed With Identical Dolls In Matching Prairie Dresses.”

#5 “My Mom’s Bed Hung From Chains, And She Had A Mini Bar For A Headboard. 1972.”⁠

#6 “Hi, I’m Jenn And I Sold My First House At Only 3 Years Old.”

#7 “My Friend’s Grandmother Went White Water Rafting…”⁠

#8 “Skipped Preschool To Go Get Glamour Shots With My Mom. Think It Was The Right Decision.”

#9 “Our 1982 Family Christmas Pic.”

#10 “This Photo Of My Family Was Taken As A Christmas Picture In Late 1989, After My Younger Sister (The “Pearl”) Was Born.”

#11 “My Husband’s High School Goth/Emo/Photoshop Phase Is An Untapped Goldmine.”⁠

#12 “My Grandparents’ First Time At A Japanese Restaurant.”⁠

#13 “My Absolute Unit Of A Baby Brother. For Reference, My Sister Holding Him Was Four.”⁠

#14 “Daughter’s First Camping Trip. This Is How She Woke Me Up At 6:15 In The Morning.”⁠

#15 “My Mom Was Amish In The 90s. Apparently, When This Picture Was Taken She Was In Trouble With The Church For Breaking Off Three Engagements.”⁠

#16 “For My Daughter’s 12th Birthday Party, We Made Masks Of Her Obsession, George Michael, For All Of The Little Girls. Didn’t Realize How Scary It Would Look When They Pulled Them All On At The Same Time.”

#17 “We Went To The Beach To Find Shark Teeth, So When My Daughter Yelled “I Found Teeth!” This Was The Last Thing I Was Expecting.”⁠

#18 “I Really Love Those Quirky Space-Themed Family Photos. My Dog Max Was Less Than Cooperative, But We Managed To Snag This Wondrous Beauty.” ⁠

#19 “My Son’s Senior Picture, Before Which, He Inexplicably Shaved Off One Eyebrow. Apparently, The Photographer Insisted He Draw It Back On For The Photo.”⁠

#21 “My Dad, The Morning After Finding Out My Mom Was Pregnant With My Brother. 1982.”⁠

#22 “Apparently Mom Thought I Needed A Cool New ‘Do For Kindergarten. She Must Have Been Confused.”⁠

#23 “There Was A Moth In Our Kitchen.”⁠

#24 “A Fly Landed On My Friend’s Face As Soon As The Dmv Took His Picture For His Driver’s License.”⁠

#25 “A Friend Bought A New House And When A Cable Technician Went Into The Crawlspace They Found This Shrine To Nicholas Cage Complete With Candles, Goblet, Kneeling Rug And Lockbox Of Movie Paraphernalia.”⁠

#26 Announcing The Awkward Family Photo Contest In Honor Of #thepeoplewehateatthewedding ?!!!

#27 “My Daughter’s One Year Old Picture Didn’t Go Quite As Planned…”⁠

#28 “During A Cousins Photo Shoot, My Brother Fell Off The Stool Mid-Temper Tantrum And The Photographer Managed To Catch All Of My Cousins’ Reactions.”

#29 “I Think My Family Might Have Liked Seinfeld.”⁠

#30 “My Mom’s 1976 Halloween Costume Sure Was Classy.”⁠

#31 “Grandma Fell Asleep When The Tide Came In…”⁠

#32 “Me, Shortly After Delivering My Twins And With Horrible Nausea And Vomiting From The Anesthesia And My Husband Thought It Was The Perfect Time For A Photo.”

#33 “My Sister And My Parents Sporting Their Australia, Gold Coast 1982 Fashion.”

#34 “My Grandmother, Bless Her Heart, Made This Dress For Me By Hand. However, She Never Noticed The Fabric She Was Sewing Was Covered With Pictures Of A Couple Making Out. She Then Rolled My Hair And Sent Me To School…on Picture Day.”

#35 “My Wife Was The Flower Girl For Her Cousin’s Wedding And Decided To Slide Down The Railing While The Bird Seed Was Flying After The Happy Couple Was Married. This Was The Result.”

#36 “My Senior Photo, 1989. I Remember The Photographer And His Helper Had To Move Their Set Up Back In Order To Capture My Whole Head. Side Note: This Picture Got Me Voted Greatest 80s Hair By National Geographic TV’s Contest.”

#37 “Me Being An Uber Goth Teenage Posing Next To Tombstones Unknowingly Covering The ‘S’ In ‘Sweeney.’ Kind Of Ruined The Mood Of The Photo!”⁠

#38 “This Old Picture Of My Great-Grandmother, Far Left, Makes It Look Like The Cameraman Just Stumbled Into A Secret Meeting Of The Grandmas…”⁠

#39 “My High School Senior Photo Has Tortured Me For Years And Now I’m Owning The Embarrassment.”⁠

#40 “My Grandmother And Great Grandmother Around 1992 Or 93. According To My Grandma, ‘We Went To One Of Those Photo Places In The Palm Desert Mall And They Duded Us Up Like Floozies. We Howled When We Saw These Pictures.’”

#42 “My 1981 High School Yearbook Photo With Perm And Spiderman Glasses.”

#43 “My Husband Spent A Good Amount Of His Childhood Years (Early To Mid 1980s) In A Children’s Hospital Where Well-Meaning Samaritans Would Go To Spread Joy And Lift Spirits.”

#44 “I Was Shooting Family Pics When This Local Obliviously Walked Into Frame.”

#45 “My Daughter Was Very Upset About Misplacing Her Lost Tooth. I Told Her To Leave A Note Under Her Pillow For The Tooth Fairy Explaining What Happened.”⁠

#46 “My Cousin Told Me Hooters Was A Donut Shop.”⁠

#47 “We Took This Picture At A Friend’s Wedding. It Wasn’t Until After I Posted It And People Started Making Comments About My Husband’s ‘Barbie Arm’ Did We Notice How His Arm Had ‘Shrunk’…”⁠

#48 “My Husband As An Infant. I Prayed Our Children Would Not Inherit His Large Cranium.”

#49 “This Is The Way My Mother Found My Sister Sleeping. In Her Pajamas She Has A Puppet, A Stuffed Monkey, A Stuffed Seal, Two Blankets, And A Watch.”⁠

#50 “Easter Cake My Friend’s Mom Made. Those Eyes Rub Me The Wrong Way.”⁠

#51 “I Got E Coli Poisoning While We Were On A Camping Trip And My Dad Thought He Should Take A Photo Of It.”

#52 “I Used To Get Really Bad Stomach Aches That Would Keep Me On The Toilet For Hours. I Would Also Get Really Lonely And Apparently Sleepy. Luckily My Mom Was There To Keep Me Company.”

#53 “Drew This When I Was In First Grade, Circa 1993. Needless To Say, I Wasn’t The Biggest Fan Of My Sister At The Time.”⁠

#54 “This Is Love. My Dad Is Driving And My Mom Is Squirting Ranch On Each Carrot He Holds Out.”⁠

#55 “Not All Heroes Wear Capes.”⁠

#56 “My Grandma Took Me To The L.A. Playboy Club For My 4th Birthday In 1974.”

#57 “In Middle School, I Told Everyone I Had An Older Boyfriend, Who Also Happened To Be An Abercrombie Model. This Was My Proof.”⁠

#58 “My Mother Had These Shirts Made For A ‘Professional’ Photoshoot.”⁠

#59 “Not Sure What Grandma And Her Friend Were Up To.”

#60 “My Nephew’s First Picture Day. He Tried So Hard To Have The Perfect Smile.”⁠

#61 “This Is A Photo Of My Ma And Pop Out On A Date In The ’80s. My Mom Must Have Followed The Instructions On My Father’s Shirt, Because 9 Months Later I Was Born!”⁠

#63 My Friend Mike’s Rock Star Mullet When He Was Two Years Old In 1989 In Fairbanks, Alaska. I Think It’s One Of The Best Photos On Earth

#64 “My Dad Learned How To Use Photoshop.”⁠

#65 “During Our ‘Perfect’ Beach Photo Shoot, My Oldest Son Jumped On My Back, Propelling My Infant Son Out Of My Arms (As My Middle Son Looked On In Amusement). My Infant Son Was Not Harmed, Just Wet And Scared But Mommy Is Forever Traumatized.”

#66 “My Daughter And I Had Been Holding Hands And She Was Leaning Away From Me And Our Photographer Caught The Perfect Moment. So The Rest Of Us Are Looking Fabulous While My 2 Year Old Is Crashing Into The Pavement.”⁠ ⁠ … And Later That Day. Seriously.

#67 “1984, France. The Only Picture I Have Of My Grandma And She Looks Like Grambo.”

#68 “Are We Bad Parents?”⁠

#70 “My Husband Wanted Coffee But I Didn’t Want To Be Late For Our Family Portrait Session.”

#71 “My Sister Made This Vegetable Tray For My Nephew’s Birthday. He Likes Clowns.”⁠

#72 “My Daughter Fixed Her Cousin’s Barbie After The Head Popped Off And Would Not Reattach.”⁠

#73 “My Daughter’s Stuffed Dog Rolled Under Her Bed. Checking The Monitor Nearly Gave Me A Heart Attack.”⁠

#74 “My Daughter Was Having A Tantrum, And Hid Her Face Under A Pillow. The Results Were Divine!”⁠

#75 “These Are My Dad’s Baby Pictures. He Was Born An Old Man.”