Your passport photo needs to look good in the United States. According to the U.S. State Department, bad photos are the number one reason passport applications get rejected. In a now-viral video, a woman issued a public service announcement warning people never to go to Walgreens for a passport photo. Instead, she advises going to Staples.
The video featured TikTok user Camlyn (@camlyn). She warned her 369,000 followers not to go to Walgreens for their passport photo and revealed the one she said she got taken there. In it, she stood in front of a white wall. The camera’s focal length, which controls the angle and magnification of the photo, according to Nikon, seems to have made her facial features appear wider. “They used a little handheld digital camera. No lighting, no flash, no anything,” she said. The content creator believed the photo was “unflattering” and “hated” it. Instead of keeping the Walgreens photo, she said she decided to head to Staples to take a new one.
Next, Camlyn revealed the photo she said she took at Staples, which was completely different from the Walgreens one. The lighting made her appear tan, and the focal length was more zoomed out, evening out her features. In addition, she said the setup at Staples was vastly different from the one at Walgreens. “They had a lit-up backdrop, they used a big DSLR camera, and they used the flash,” she said. Afterward, she held up both photos to compare. “Lighting makes a big difference,” she concluded.
In the video’s caption, she lamented her Walgreens photo, writing, “Walgreens did me so dirty.”
@camlyn Walgreens did me so dirty 😭😭 #passportphoto #passportmakeup ♬ original sound – Camlyn
The video amassed 1.5 million views, and several commenters claiming to be current or former workers admitted to not caring how the photos come out.
“As a former walgreens employee i did not care what how your picture came out i hated doing those,” one viewer wrote.
“No it’s true I work at walgreens and we literally don’t gaf about how ur picture comes out just as long as it passes the guidelines,” a second commented.
“As a wag employee.. yeah.. we literally pull down a little backdrop and snap a pic with a Kodak lmao with awful overhead retail light,” a third stated.
In addition, others empathized with Camlyn, saying Walgreens ruined their photos.
“OMG, I got mine from Walgreens and I actually cried… They do you DIRTY,” one viewer said.
“Walgreens did me so dirty after hours of hair and makeup prep,” a second echoed.
The Daily Dot reached out to Walgreens via press email and Camlyn by email and TikTok comment.
