Flipping through old family albums is both a pleasure and a challenge for us. It’s great to revisit wholesome memories from our past again, but it can really hurt to see just how many embarrassing and awkward photos there are of us. It’s cold, hard proof that we weren’t as cool as we thought we were! Is that really how we used to dress? Oh, dear Lord, is that what we look like when we smile?!
If you learn to embrace that goofy and derpy side of yourself, you might realize just how much fun you can have in front of the camera when you’re not trying to come across as ‘perfect.’ And it makes it sooo much easier to deal with any awkward pics you might find in your archives.
That’s where the Awkward Family Photos project comes in. The brainchild of childhood friends Mike Bender and Doug Chernack, AFP features super awkward and cringy photos from the past that are incredibly fun to look at. Nearly all of us have some pics at home like this which makes it even more enjoyable.
Scroll down for the newest vintage awkward pics, as featured by Awkward Family Photos, and remember to upvote your fave ones, Pandas. Got any similar photos to share with us? You can post your pics in the comments. And if you can’t get enough of AFP, then hang on to your hats and check out Bored Panda’s recent articles about the project here, here, and here.
More info: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com
#1 “My Aunt And Uncle Were Crowned “Golden Couple” At Our Local Fair For Being The Longest Married Couple In The County At 72 Years. Our Local Paper Did A Fantastic Arrangement For The Honor…”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#2 “My Grandma Got Bit By A Pelican On The Pier And Then Began To Scold It”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#3 “One Of Our Goats And I Were Both Pregnant With Twins And Due The Same Week. I Made Her Dress Up And Take Maternity Photos With Me”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#4 “My All Time Favorite Picture Of My Sister. She Was 6, Tired, And Had Just Tried Sparkling Grape Juice. Not A Fan”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#5 “Dad Didn’t Have Much Luck In The Arm Wrestling Circuit, But He Has High Hopes For His Boy”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#6 “This Pretty Much Sums Up My Childhood”
“I’m the blond on the left burying my head in my sister’s lap while she gets in a cheap shot. The youngest is fish-hooking my other sister while my mother looks on and laughs. My father is letting everyone know what his future looks like with four daughters like these.”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#7 “We Just Wanted A Nice Family Photo”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#8 “When It’s Your First Day Of Kindergarten And Also Your First Day As Head Of The Pta”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#9 “As A Child, I Would Dress Up As A Clown Whenever There Was A Reason To Celebrate – In This Case The Birth Of My Younger Brother”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#10 “I Asked My Grandma If She Had Some Rice That I Can Put My Phone In When It Got Wet And She Pulls This Out Of A Cabinet”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#11 “I Was Just Trying To Peel My Daughter Off Of Me, Sit Her On The Bench And Then I Was Running To Get Out Of The Picture. However It Looks Like I Have Left My Children With Their Sitter And Am Running Away For Dear Life!”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#12 “I Got A Life Sized Barbie When I Was 7 And My Brother Had Other Ideas”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#13 “My Poor Daughter Never Heard The End Of It From Her Siblings After Her Heartbreaker Tee Shirt Turned To Fartbreaker For School Pictures”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#14 “My Dad In High School (1959) vs. Me In High School (1986)”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#15 “My Sister Looking Like She’s Gonna Tear My Head Off When I Was An Infant Being Held By My Dad”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#16 “During Our ‘Perfect’ Beach Photo Shoot, My Oldest Son Jumped On My Back, Propelling My Infant Son Out Of My Arms”
“My infant son was not harmed, just wet and scared but mommy is forever traumatized.”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#17 “A Valentines Day Card From A Student Of Mine”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#18 “Our Grandma Used To Not Only Give My Sister And Me Mullets In The 80s, She Would Then Perm Them. Matching Permed Mullets. Need I Say More?”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#19 “My Husband As An Infant. I Prayed Our Children Would Not Inherit His Large Cranium”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#20 “If Your Mum Wasn’t Making Herself Into A Ramp For Your New Bmx, Did She Even Love You? 1980′”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#21 “My Favorite Picture Of My Parents. Them On Their Wedding Day. 1991”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#22 “Our Daughter Would Not Cooperate For Her Photos. She Was Doing Everything But Smiling. Here She Is Getting Ready To ‘Hulk’ Out”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#23 “I Was Born In 1981 But Turned 55 In 1992”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#24 “My Daughter Was Supposed To Be A Flower Girl In Her Aunt’s Wedding But Napping Is Life (And She Was Safely Strapped In)”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#25 “A Photo My Mom Captured Of My Then Two Year Old Daughter”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#26 “My Great Grandma And Her Twin Sister In Springfield, Missouri. The Original Inspiration For The Shining I’m Sure”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#27 “My Parents Wedding Day, 1980s”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#28 “My Husband’s Grandfather Hung Every Photo On The Wall That He Had Of His Grandchildren”
“As a test, the family had the grandkids pose by a garbage dumpster and sent it to his grandfather to see what he would do and he still hung it up on the wall. It then became a tradition to send him photos of the family by dumpsters.”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#29 “This Is A Photo Of My Daughter And Her Father Riding The Tennessee Tornado Roller Coaster At Dollywood. When We Saw The Photo At The Sales Kiosk, We Laughed So Hard We Just Had To Buy It!”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#30 “It Was 1990 So I Guess My Parents Thought They’d Dress Me Up Like A New Wave Recording Artist”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#31 “It Was My Son’s First Time On My Favorite Ride And He Was Terrified. As For My Husband, He Just Always Looks Like That”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#32 “Vintage 1984 Polaroid Of Mr. T Pitying Me As A Baby With My Mom”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#33 “My Grandparents’ Christmas Card From 1951 And My Favorite Annual Reminder That Font Choice Matters”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#34 “The Photographer Kept Telling My Son To “Smile More!” And This Was His Version Of Smiling “More””
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#35 “My Husband, The Blonde, Punctured His Kidney While Wrestling With His Brother Who Is Posing On The Right. His Injury Caused Him To Pee Blood And Resulted In Major Surgery. And His Little Brother Couldn’t Have Been Prouder”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#36 “My Daughter Would Not Stop Crying Until She Got Her Own Cone Of Shame”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#37 “I Apologize For My Crimes Against The Ozone Layer. High School Graduation, 1989″
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#38 “My Mother And Grandmother Demonstrating Safety Standards In The 1960s”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#39 “This Is My Sister Graduating High School Back When You Had To Wait To Get Photos Developed”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#40 “It’s Hard To Get All 4 Brothers To Behave For A Picture But The Oldest Sure Tried To Keep Everyone In Line”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#41 “Came Across Some Old Photos Of A Weird Looking Baby At My Parents’ House. Found Out It’s Me At 4 Weeks. Thank God They Captured My Beauty Before I Grew Out Of It”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#42 “Found At My Parents. Not Sure If I Should Laugh Or Cry?”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#43 “My Great-Grandfather’s Passport Photo From 1978”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#44 “My Parents Just Got A Hot Tub And Were Very Excited About It”
“Therefore, my grandma hired a professional photographer to take a family photo in the hot tub. For some reason they posed with wine and candles even though the children were not old enough to drink… and sent it out to 150 plus friends as a Christmas card.”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#45 “Thirteen Of Grandma’s Grandchildren Were In The House For A Couple Days Around Christmas-Time. She Was Pretty Exhausted”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#46 “My Dad On Christmas Morning”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#47 “Grandma Made These Wonderful Crochet Vests For Each Of My Husband’s Siblings. He Looks Strangely Happy About It. (Far Right)”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#48 “I Received This Photo From My Dad While He Was Babysitting My Daughter. When She Found Out Grandpa Could Take Out His Teeth, He Let Her Wear Them”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#49 “My 2001 School Photo”
“In order to perfect this aesthetic masterpiece, I put a massive amount of gel in my wet hair, then I bent over and swung my hair around and blow dried it upside down until the gel hardened completely… I got a little lightheaded each time, but clearly worth it!”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
#50 “Here Is My Dad With My Grandma In 1956 At The Snow King Chair Lift”
Image source: awkwardfamilyphotos
Follow Us
