It’s that time of the year. Holidays are coming up and this year there is the off chance that I might be leaving the country for a bit. So I got out my passport and realised it expired last year (when there was no chance of me going abroad – unless you count Sweden, Amager and Jutland).
So I went to get it renewed.
Well, actually. First I went to get a hair cut. After all, I’ll be using the same passport for the next ten years, so I wanted to look my best in the photo (vain, I know) and getting a hair cut kinda boosts the old ego – that is, when it doesn’t leave me feeling old.
Next I went to have my picture taken.
There has always been a ton of rules when it comes to passport photos (no head gear, eyes must be visible etc.), but they’ve added a new – and very strange – one since the last time I went through the same manouvre. You cannot freaking smile!
Now I had my picture taken in a booth, and the voice in the booth offered no explanation of why smiling is off limits (I asked), but it had the rather ironic effect that I actually sat grinning for the first two trys, and had to do it over again working hard not to bust out laughing.
Anyway, I’ve since found out, that smiling in the picture makes it harder for biometric scanners in airports to match you to your passport, and while the explanation makes some sense, I still think it kind of sucks that I’ll be looking at a (relatively well groomed) criminal every time I open my passport for the next decade!
For your passport, try to look as criminal as possible, please
It’s that time of the year. Holidays are coming up and this year there is the off chance that I might be leaving the country for a bit. So I got out my passport and realised it expired last year (when there was no chance of me going abroad – unless you count Sweden, Amager and Jutland).
So I went to get it renewed.
Well, actually. First I went to get a hair cut. After all, I’ll be using the same passport for the next ten years, so I wanted to look my best in the photo (vain, I know) and getting a hair cut kinda boosts the old ego – that is, when it doesn’t leave me feeling old.
Next I went to have my picture taken.
There has always been a ton of rules when it comes to passport photos (no head gear, eyes must be visible etc.), but they’ve added a new – and very strange – one since the last time I went through the same manouvre. You cannot freaking smile!
Now I had my picture taken in a booth, and the voice in the booth offered no explanation of why smiling is off limits (I asked), but it had the rather ironic effect that I actually sat grinning for the first two trys, and had to do it over again working hard not to bust out laughing.
Anyway, I’ve since found out, that smiling in the picture makes it harder for biometric scanners in airports to match you to your passport, and while the explanation makes some sense, I still think it kind of sucks that I’ll be looking at a (relatively well groomed) criminal every time I open my passport for the next decade!
A couple of links on the matter:
BBC
BoingBoing
And a google search that I mostly like for the images
Oh, and in case you were wondering, this is what I ended up looking like.
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