Thots

This is a concept I really do not understand at all.  I have contemplated possible scenarios for the inclusion of a newspaper in ones progress photo, to no avail… 

At first I figured it was to indicate the date one started their venture to produce an after picture.  I am perplexed with this particular motive because without my 400X microscope I cannot read the date on the paper in the pixelized pictures.  In contradiction to this theory one usually adds the date of said progress picture to the title and/or some comment attached anyway.  I’m not buying it…

I have heard.. it is supposed to be the same paper, USA Today, for some reason.  I’ve seen more local papers being used over a specially purchased paper on the day you start that no one can read the date on in the photo anyway… Should there be a constant in the type of paper, the date is still not readable.   I’m not buying it…

I have heard the front page and a headline will indicate the date.  Ok… that would be just fine for those who happen to collect the exact local paper used in the photo and can reference the exact issue used in the photo and thus produce a date, providing they come in contact with your progress photo that is.  For the rest of us, I guess we have to guess within 6 months to a year or so providing it was a national headline… I’m not buying it…

Then I thought since no one can ever read the paper, maybe it’s the paper in terms of size we are supposed to be looking at.  Everyone knows how big a newspaper is right?  We know in relation to a newspaper how big the person holding it is.  The problem is..  there are subtle variations in a paper’s size and how it’s photographed that are an unknown to viewers of the picture.  For instance a New York Times would make someone like like a hobbit while the aforementioned USA Today or a local paper would in contrast make the person look normal.  The same paper would have to be held at the same position at the same distance from the camera in order to make this theory even plausible.  I’m not buying it..

Maybe it’s a personal thing.  Could it be that the newspaper a person holds in the before picture represents a sentimental artifact from ones past signifying the date said person changed their life.  Plausible indeed, but that brings up the question of the after picture newspaper and it’s meaning, but that’s another show… I could almost believe the newspaper is a sentiment of a change in ones life.  I also believe there are far better artifacts to use than some newspaper.  Maybe the picture itself!  With a date on the back and a comment!  I’m not buying this theory either…

With the inclusion of newspapers in progress pictures that continue to this day I cannot help but ponder their meaning.  Am I missing something?  Something so complex that it eludes common sense, or something so simple that it is completely overlooked… My guess is that someone many years ago started it, with good intentions I’m sure, and everyone follows this tradition without really knowing it’s true meaning, like many holidays…  One grabs a paper, noting the date I’m sure, and displays it proudly next to their bare physique in what will become the infamous Before Progress Picture for all to see…..