Every time I pose for a passport or drivers licence photo, my back gets up. I have to take my glasses off. The glasses I wear 24/7. The person in the picture isn't me any more. Well, it is, but not the real everyday me. No wonder a Missouri mom was affronted when her three year-old daughter was photographed without the specs she needs to see.
Abby Lubiewski has a rare genetic condition that means she was born with cataracts. For her, glasses are an integral part of her identity. Without them, she can't see—end of story.
“The picture without her glasses is not a natural smile for her and you can tell by the way her neck muscles look strained," said mom, Amanda Lukiewski. "She’s just doing what the photographer likely told her to do by saying ‘cheese.’”
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Not least of which the fact that Abby doesn't even look like Abby in the photo. And afterwards she herself even asked, “What happened to my glasses?”
As for other spectacle-wearing classmates? They got to keep their glasses on, presumably because the glare they gave off wasn't quite so strong.
In any case, when Lubiewski confronted photographers Lifetouch on Facebook, they were repentant:
"We strive to take photos that celebrate the uniqueness of each child, and we hope to do a better job of that with your daughter’s retake. Each of our photographers go through a formal training process, and we are always working to improve this process. We appreciate your feedback and we want you to know that we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind on our team.”
The company has offered a free retake. As for Abby... She now knows how to politely decline should anyone ever ask her to pose without her glasses again.
Sadly it's not the first time school photographers have exercised their own questionable judgment as to what's appropriate or not. An eighth grader's "feminist" T-shirt was recently deemed too offensive for school pictures, while a boy in a wheelchair was unthinkingly sidelined in a class photo.
Offering retakes is the right thing to do, yet as others have pointed out, the implicit message has already reached the kids: you aren't acceptable as you are.
“These glasses are part of who Abby is, much like the clothes she wears,” wrote Lukiewski. “Now, she may be wondering, ‘What’s wrong with my glasses? What’s wrong with me?’ She may be questioning her appearance for the very [first] time…at 3 years-old.”
A school photographer's job is to capture an authentic snapshot of the child as they are at the moment of the shutter-click. It's to provide a memento of a child over the years for the family and friends who know and love them. So what if that memento comes with a bit of glare.
You tell me: How would you feel if this was your child?
Image Source: Screengrab Yahoo!
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