You can usually tell when a headshot is old.
Not because of the clothes.
Not because of the haircut.
Not even because of the camera.
You can tell because it feels like an act.
That’s the one thing that instantly dates a headshot. The moment it stops feeling like a real person and starts feeling like someone performing for the camera.
I see it all the time.
The polite corporate grin that never quite reaches the eyes.
The overly serious expression that was meant to look powerful.
The heavy retouching that smoothed away anything human.
At the time, it probably felt right. Professional. Safe.
Now it just feels… off.
Performance Ages. Presence Lasts.
Most dated headshots aren’t badly lit. They aren’t technically wrong.
What dates them is intent.
They were taken at a time when the goal was to look impressive. Or authoritative. Or like everyone else in the industry. So the expression was constructed rather than observed.
And once an expression is constructed, it belongs to that moment.
Presence doesn’t work like that.
When someone’s settled and comfortable, their face does something very simple. It stops trying.
The shoulders ease.
The breathing slows.
The eyes engage.
That doesn’t date.
Your hair will change. Your glasses might change. Your face will change too. That’s normal.
What lasts is the sense that you’re comfortable in who you are and clear about what you do.
The Problem With Playing It Safe
A lot of headshots age quickly because they were designed not to offend.
Neutral background. Neutral pose. Neutral expression.
It feels sensible. Especially in corporate settings.
But safe often means generic. And generic is always tied to the style of the time.
The more your headshot tries to blend in, the more quickly it blends into the past.
The strongest portraits aren’t dramatic. They aren’t flashy.
They’re aligned.
They look like someone who knows their role and doesn’t feel the need to prove it.
Over-Polishing Is a Time Stamp
There’s another giveaway.
Over-retouching.
For a while, ultra-smooth skin and brightened eyes were everywhere. It looked polished. Expensive. “Professional”.
Now it just looks dated.
Real faces have texture. They have lines. They have character.
When you remove all of that, you don’t create something timeless. You create something artificial. And artificial styles move on quickly.
A lightly retouched, honest portrait will always outlast a heavily polished one.
What I Focus On Instead
When I’m photographing someone, I’m not chasing a trend.
I’m watching for a shift.
The moment they stop thinking about how they look and start being present.
It might take a few minutes. It might take a bit of conversation. It might take a handful of frames we never use.
But when it happens, you can see it straight away.
The expression belongs to them, not the camera.
That’s when a headshot stops being tied to a year. It stops being about fashion. It starts to feel solid.
If your current headshot feels slightly awkward when you look at it, like a version of you that was trying a bit too hard, it might not be the haircut that’s dating it.
It might be the performance.
I’m Martin Bamford, a portrait photographer for ambitious professionals and hardworking creatives who want to show up with clarity and confidence.
If your headshot feels like it belongs to a previous chapter, let’s create one that actually feels like you.
