We’ve been broken up for about four months, and I haven’t downloaded the dating apps yet. I haven’t started dating again, either. But I’ve identified a small administrative complication: my ex took some really good photos of me.
Better than I could take myself. This isn’t false modesty. If I eventually make a dating profile, the strongest candidates for the photo section already exist, and she was behind the camera.
In those pictures, I’m the subject. They’re photos of me that happen to have been taken by someone I used to date. Put that way, using them sounds straightforward. Then I imagine explaining their origin to a woman I’m trying to get to know, and suddenly I’m less sure.
Would she think it was strange? Would it suggest I was still attached to my ex, even if I simply thought the pictures were good? I’m not planning to include a photographer credit, although that would certainly give everyone something to discuss.
There’s something mildly ridiculous about preparing to date again and realizing that a former relationship supplied your best promotional materials. Still, four months later, the photos haven’t become worse. My own photography hasn’t improved out of respect for the breakup.
For now, this is all hypothetical. No app, no profile, no new dates. Just the knowledge that when I do get around to choosing pictures, my ex has already made a very competitive submission.
So I’d like to know what women think: is using those photos ordinary enough, or would that detail make an otherwise decent profile feel a little crowded?
