Behind The Awkwardness

Feeling Groovy

“My “Far-Out” mama apparently thought all of us wearing tie-dye and making our hair as feathered as possible would make the perfect family photo. Please keep in mind this was taken in 1992, when neither tie-dye nor blue eyeliner were in fashion… Thanks Mom!”

(submitted by Hilary)

Cone Of Silence

“Yes, this is my family. I am the smallest conehead. In a brilliant wave of genius, my mother thought she had come to the ultimate family Halloween costume. She found these smelly, rubber coneheads at a some long forgotten costume shop. We were all a little uncomfortable with it, but with only a few short days until Halloween complete with invite to yearly Halloween party, where were constantly berated and ridiculed for our costumes by this bougie family who seemingly had NO END to there arsenal of elaborate Halloween costume ideas.  So, we went to the party, and after a few dull roars from the crowd of party-goers, the bougie family swooped in to steal our thunder donned as the ENTIRE cast of the Never Ending Story…yep… even Valkor.”

(submitted by Maggie)

The Unintentional Shining Reproduction

“We were touring our new house while it was under construction in 1989. I was 4. My parents were taking pictures of various rooms and I was wandering. Then this happened in a hallway.”

(submitted by Austin)

Christmeaster

“In an odd turn of events, we chose to celebrate Easter at the most appropriate time. Please note the stockings.”

(submitted by Theresa)

Banana Split

“My grandmother owns a store in the town I grew up in and every year she enters a float, representing the store, into the summer parade. Of course, this meant that I had to be on every one, usually in some ridiculous costume. I think that this was by far the most embarrassing year though. I’m the waving cherry on the far right and my cousin, on the far left, took the smarter approach and didn’t show his face for the entire parade.”

(submitted by Treg)

A Little Higher

“In my own defense, my son didn’t actually hit the tree branch, though I have no answer for why he isn’t wearing pants.”

(submitted by Anthony)

Tipsy

“This is an outtake for a staged Christmas photo of me and my brother Tom. As you can see from the look of terror on his face, Tom began to tip over. That’s mom’s hand trying to keep him from going baby ass over elbow.”

(submitted by Christine)

Wonder Woman

“This is my mom and dad who went to visit my brother in Texas. They stopped off at a scenic overlook in Austin to take some pictures. I have no idea who that is in the background nor why they are dressed that way, but they obviously thought it was a Kodak moment too.”

UPDATE: Sooo… we heard from Jennifer, the Superhero in the background, and got her side of the story.

“As for the pic, it was w/ a pro photographer for some promo work I was doing. My last name is Justice so I was doing a superhero theme.  I think this was like March ’09. OMFG, I’m still laughing! Too funny. Anyway, I’m not sure exactly whats going on w/ my face here but I’m sure its more annoyed w/ sun in the face and the wind doing the exact opposite of what we were wanting. I know we got the shot because I used it for awhile but I can’t seem to find it at the moment. Anyway, enjoy! I’ve got more family portraits to bomb… UP UP AND AWAY!!

(submitted by Stephanie)

Tin Soldiers

“So, I got bored with the typical holiday cards and decided to do something a little different. At first, my ideas were pretty innocent (we wore Santa hats, reindeer antlers,etc), but as the years passed and my ideas became more and more unusual, I realized people loved it.  I have heard from many “fans” that their extended families, friends, and neighbors start checking in early in December to see if the Johnson card has arrived and what I’ve come up with for that year.”

(submitted by Sue)

Three Little Pigs

“My loving mother (the one on the sled) thought it would be a wonderful photo opportunity to have ballerina pig costumes hand-made for us all. My sister Adellie (in front) and I were firmly instructed to look as though we were having a jolly good time as we pretended to push our Mommy through the snow. I recall crying a lot during this photo-shoot. And the answer is yes, we were forced to wear these on Halloween and yes, it was on our Christmas card that year.”

(submitted by Ava)