we are mike and doug, co-founders of awkwardfamilyphotos.com and co-authors of the new book Awkward Family Holiday Photos. ask us anything (the more awkward the better)...

Is there any picture that you won't post? What crosses the line in your opinion?

yes, definitely. we won't post anything if it's really mean-spirited, homophobic, racist, that sort of thing. we try to keep the site a friendly place to be awkward and a celebration... but we of course are a humor site and will post some shockers like this one

My first visit to your website made me gag. Would visit again 10/10

awesome. thank you so much.

[deleted]

yes, it's a water birth with the whole family.

I've seen a lot of disgusting stuff on the Internet, but that's the closest I've ever come to throwing up from a picture.

just be glad you didn't throw up.

Hi, has anyone sent you an Email because you posted a photo and later he or she didn't want it online anymore? I'm a huge fan of your site, I wish I could unsee quite a few of the photos. Keep up the awkwardness

occasionally, someone will submit a photo and say they are the person in the photo and we realize that they were lying... in those cases when we hear from the actual person, we take it down. but often times, they still let us keep the photo up.

What's your favorite photo from the new book?

great question search... so many favorites but we both have a soft spot in our hearts for this one

What made you go forward with Awkwardfamilyphotos.com. That seems to be one of those things that you'd think about for a second while browsing the internet but then forget about it a few minutes later.

I'm sure you'd seen more than one awkward family photo before you made the website, what made you actually pursue the website?

well, it started with my mom hanging up a photo in the house (this is mike btw). doug and i were writing a film project at the time and starting talking about the idea of awkward family photos. doug said he had many at his parent's house and we thought, well, if we have them, other people must as well. so, we started the site with that in mind, hoping people would eventually send in pics. i should add that both our parents thought this was a terrible idea :) here is pic that inspired

Hey! I've see that one! Didn't know it was the one that started it all, haha.

yep, and it is still hung in my parent's house :)

Please tell me one of you lost your balance after this picture was taken and you all fell down in a tangled mess of skis and horrible 80's ski attire.

ha. sure, that's exactly what happened. why would i ruin that wonderful image.

Do you personally know anyone in the photos you've published? Are either of you in any of the pictures?

yes, the whole thing started with our own photos... here is the vacation photo of mike's family that started it all

we do have a lot of friends and family who have submitted since we started

What's the most awkward thing that's happened at one of your personal family gatherings?

mike: at thanksgiving, my 9 year old cousin thanked his sperm for getting there first

doug: my dad saw cheryl hines with her daughter in a parking lot and said "looking forward to seeing you next sunday" during one of Curb seasons... needless to say, she was freaked out

How long did you have the idea for the site until you actually started building the site?

we had the idea on a friday and decided to put up the cheapest wordpress site possible on a saturday

which photo do you wish you could unsee?

hands down, this one

shield your eyes

how do you choose the photos for the book? like are they the "all stars" or the ones that have a great story?

we select the all-stars from the website and pics that we've never published before and been saving for the book. the pictures that have great stories appear in the "behind the awkwardness" section of the book

What geographic area tends to send in the best submissions?

Do you see a specific time period as being specifically awkward (i.e. early 90's?)

well, texas seems to be especially rich in AFPs... in terms of time periods, we've seen awkward pics from the 30s all the way thru present day. the one thing that will never change is that family will always be awkward.

Have any of your photos been used by third-parties for advertising?

sure, when we do a contest on the website, we often use our classic AFPs

What age demographic do you think uploads the most pictures to your site?

well, we def get photos from all different age ranges... but photos are generally submitted from the perspective of a child... meaning the person was a child or teenager at the time the photo was taken

I gotta know, what kind of underwear do you guys prefer?

we prefer underwear not made from meat products

Well stop smothering hot dogs with your underwear and that wont happen

we will def keep that in mind. thank you for the tip.

no question. just thanks for hosting this site and making me laugh hysterically.

awesome, thank you so much. we have a lot of fun doing it :)

Could you please....nevermind.

yes, we'd be happy to... nevermind.

When you get cheese caught in your zipper, do you have a tendency to mash or flick it out?

Edit: I'm unsure of what happened here...

our zippers are lactose intolerant

Considering it is a question that is very uncomfortable and awkward for people to ask about ones finances.......how much is AFP doing in that department?

you are correct. that is an awkward question.

Would u rather lick a dildo or lick a dick.

insightful question. really depends on what else is on the menu.

You took me back to my college years where the only bright moment in my day was sitting in the computer lab holding my laughs while browsing AFP. I don't think you should hold out on seemingly mean-spirited, homophobic or racist photos if there was an awkward element to it.

well, appreciate your point of view here, but a lot of people might disagree. ultimately, we don't look to anger people with our site. we want them to laugh. we know that we have a lot of moms and kids who visit the site so we're sensitive to that.

Hey, thanks for your books! We sell them where I work and they always give us a good laugh when the store is dead.

thank you for selling them, matt! we really appreciate that.

Of every photo you've ever seen (not just the books), which one makes you laugh regardless of how many times you've seen it?

there's one called "the space between" that just never gets old. you can type into search on AFP and it pop up. the look on sister's face is just precious.

Is managing this site a hobby, or do you do it as a full-time job?

it started out as a hobby and as of about 3 years ago, it's now a full-time job

How many people have expressed, either through anger or sarcasm, their jealousy of you two making boatloads of money by publishing other peoples' content?

well, should say neither of us currently own a boat. but in truth, we haven't really had any issues. people are generally really excited and enthusiastic to be a part of the books, the cards, and mostly because these are photos that were in buried in drawers and in the attic and they get a real kick out of their families having a moment in the spotlight. we've even had some families that have contacted us and told us how the photo being published has brought them closer together. ultimately, we are asking people to laugh at themselves and that is what makes this so much fun.

Has anyone ever come across their photo on your website and asked that you take it down? Do you comply with removal requests or are you protected by some sort of blogging or satire loophole?

if someone write us to remove a pic, we take it down immediately. we're never looking to post without consent.

Do you think people take FAKE AFPs now? Or ever?

sure, we def get a fair share of those, but after looking at these for 4 years, it's really obvious which ones are faked

Like

thank u

Who cuts your hair?

neither of us would wish our hairstyles on anybody else

Could you possibly share the most offensive photo you have ever received (even if it didn't necessarily make the cut)? Also, love the website, it's been making me and my friends laugh for years!

for some odd reason, we have received a series of open casket family photos from funerals. for obvious reasons, we don't share those :)

thanks so much. can't tell you how much appreciate you coming to the site.

http://m.imgur.com/4kRLyTM

yes, a classic for sure.

Is there a screenplay in the works? Some of the narratives suggested in your collections are just too good not to exploit.

Thanks for all the laffs!

ha, we agree and thx! too much online ground to cover currently to think about a movie, but since doug and i are screenwriters, it's always in the back of our minds.

What is the oldest known awkward family photo?

great question.... not really sure but we've seen awkward pics from the early 1900s