Passport photos: should you wear glasses?
Wednesday 16 October 2019, 14:41 by Marije Weterings | 8,985 views | 1 commentThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
Everyone needs to have a passport photo taken at some point. And for that, you're relying on us photographers. It usually isn't the most flattering photo. That's because you have to follow all sorts of rules and aren't allowed to smile freely. One of those rules concerns wearing contact lenses or glasses.
Contact lenses
If someone wears contact lenses every day, they can keep them in for their passport photo. The only condition is that you can't see the lenses. The eyes must not be covered in a passport photo. Wearing regular contact lenses is therefore allowed, but wearing coloured contact lenses isn't, because they change someone's appearance.
Glasses
If someone wears glasses every day, they can wear them in the photo. The point is that the passport photo should look as much as possible like the person does in everyday life. It is important that the frames do not cover the eyes. If someone has small frames, or frames that sit low on the nose and cover their eyes, wearing them is not allowed.
There must not be any reflection visible in the lenses either. The photographer will therefore need to consider the light falling on the lenses. Glasses that someone wears occasionally, such as reading glasses or computer glasses, cannot be worn in a passport photo.
The photo below is beautiful, but is therefore not suitable for a passport photo.
.jpg "Adult alluring attractive 2811088 (3)")
Passport photo tips
When the photo is taken, the person being photographed should try to put all these rules out of their mind. After all, it is the photographer's job to pay attention to them.
If you're thinking about all the rules, there's very little chance that someone will look good in the photo. Try to help the person being photographed relax and get them to think about something nice.
That way, they will still look a little cheerful in their passport photo without smiling. One trick that can help them look better is to ask them to push their chin slightly forwards when the photo is taken. This stops it looking as though someone has a double chin.
Would you like to read through all the requirements for a passport photo again? You can do so on the government website.
About the author
Marije van Eersel staat voor gevoel, creativiteit, passie en contact. Haar stijl laat zich omschrijven als chic, artistiek, hip en persoonlijk. Ze is gespecialiseerd in mode, reclame en bedrijfsfotografie en geeft tevens workshops en masterclasses reclamefotografie en interieurfotografie.
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1 comment
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Guus Janssen wrote on Tuesday 22 October 2019 at 15:26 | replyDespite all the government's rules: it is the civil servant at the counter who decides! We have been taking professional passport photos for 30 years, but keep running into this. In our town and surrounding area, a photo with glasses is almost never accepted. Try explaining that to the customer when you have the government's matrix in the studio. Remains a difficult story.
Translated from Dutch.
Guus Janssen.
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