Getting the right passport picture isn’t easy, and let’s be honest, how many people like the one they end up with? Most people just take the best of the bunch, but one Minnesota woman has left internet viewers in hysterics with the photo she was left with.
Before renewing her passport, Kate, 39, headed to her local Walgreens in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to get a new photo taken. As she took her seat in front of the white background and prepared for her close-up, it quickly became evident that something wasn’t quite right.
Kate noticed that the employee was using an old-fashion digital camera, telling Newsweek that it “looked like it had been purchased in 2007.” That was the first sign that the passport photo might not work out.
Newsweek has contacted Walgreens via email for comment.
“I also noticed my picture-taker was standing pretty far back when snapping the photo, but I didn’t think much of it at the time,” Kate said. “She was friendly and talkative, and she cut the two printed pictures to the correct size.”
However, Kate said she was planning to submit the passport application online and requested for a digital photo to be sent via email.
When the digital version came through, Kate was utterly speechless. Rather than being the typical portrait image, the photo Kate received was in landscape and taken so far back that it showed her full torso, space above her head, and shelves of stock items beside her.
Unsurprisingly, the photo was declined when Kate tried to submit it.
She said: “At first, I was kind of stunned. I decided to try it anyway and uploaded the photo and I cropped it to size within the system, but it was blurry and was instantly rejected. Then, I started to see the humor in it because the display of birthday items behind me, coupled with my mugshot look, was pretty hilarious.”
Kate returned to Walgreens days later to get a different picture taken. She also asked the employee to take a photo on her phone, just to be safe. Fortunately, the latter image was the one she ended up using, and it was approved. She also received a refund for the original photos.
Many people have had passport photo mishaps, but none quite like this one. Kate couldn’t resist sharing it on social media (@kate.bitters) and it went viral with over 3.6 million views, 108,000 likes and more than 3,200 comments on Threads at the time of writing.
The caption alongside the photo reads: “I paid $18 for passport photos at Walgreens, and this is the digital picture they sent me.”
The online reaction is beyond anything Kate imagined, but it has provided her with so much laughter and joy. She holds no animus toward Walgreens or the employee but just felt it was an amusing moment that would bring a smile to many faces.
Kate told Newsweek: “I’m absolutely blown away by the response to this picture. I thought it would get a few laughs, but it ended up reaching millions of people. The comments section is especially hilarious, and I’ve learned that I’m definitely not the only one who has had a passport photo fail.”
If she has gained anything from this experience (except for a new passport photo), Kate said that the light-hearted fun it has generated online is “a small price to pay.”
Among the thousands of responses on Threads, many people shared their own passport fails and hilarious photo edits.
One comment reads: “I’m am very sorry for how hard I laughed at this. I dropped my phone and everything.”
Another Threads user joked: “Now you have to travel with a whole party supply section.”
One commenter added: “This is terrible and also amazing and perhaps should be turned into a large oil painting?”
Do you have any viral videos or pictures that you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to [email protected] and they could appear on our site.
Read the full article here
