Cats dressed as babies, snakes wrapped around their owners' necks, and “pet-a-like” snaps of dogs and their owners are getting their cringe-worthy day in the publishing sun. A new book, based on the pet version of the hit comic blog “Awkward Family Photos”, will be published in 2011. “Awkward Family Pet Photos will include the most outrageous submissions from the awkwardfamilypetphotos.com site, along with never-before-seen photos,” Three Rivers Press said on July 21.
貓裝扮成嬰兒，蛇纏繞住主人脖子，「寵物像我」狗狗和主人合照，竟因令人尷尬困窘而風風光光得見天日，出版上市。一本新書明年將從博君一粲的熱門寵物部落格《家庭囧照》取材出版。「《家庭寵物囧照》將包括自動貼在awkwardfamilypetphotos.com網站上最匪夷所思的照片，以及過去從沒曝光的照片。」三河出版社7月21日如是說。
The book version of “Awkward Family Photos”, released in May, has reached the New York Times paperback bestseller list, while the web site gets over 20 million impressions a month. “Awkward Family Pet Photos” is based on the spin-off site that the bloggers created recently because so many of the photos submitted by the public featured “wonderfully strange”pet pictures. Both sites were created by Mike Bender and Doug Chernack to celebrate the uncomfortable casual snapshots that every family owns.
《家庭囧照》這本書今年5月出版，如今已登上《紐約時報》平裝本暢銷書排行榜，該網站每月有逾2000萬人次瀏覽。《家庭寵物囧照》則是從部落客最近分支架設的網站上取材付梓，因為網上實在有太多人推薦「千奇百怪、妙不可言」的寵物照片。 網站的兩個創辦人麥克．班德和道格．謝納克，當初是為了和大家分享每個家庭都會不經意拍下的尷尬快照而架設的。
The most amazing thing is that, since their site launched 13 months ago, families have seemed more than willing to embarrass themselves. Bender and Chernack began by posting their own family photos and those of a few friends, and things quickly snowballed. They say there is a “me too!” element for families wanting to show that they are not alone at having uncomfortable photos lurking like skeletons in the family's closet. Within days of launching, the website crashed. And the pair say they receive some 6,000 submissions a month.
最令人吃驚的是，自從他們的網站13個月前推出以來，似乎所有家庭都樂於把令人困窘的事外揚。班德和謝納克一開始是張貼自己的家庭照和少數朋友的照片，事情很快如滾雪球般愈滾愈大。他們說，在一種「我也是！」的因素作祟下，許多家庭想公開表明：他們家壁櫥裡也潛伏著令人困窘的糗事。網站架好才幾天就當機癱瘓，這對好友說，當時每月有大約6000張照片po上網。
Some pictures have an air of nostalgia — 1980s photos showing some of the worst hairstyles in history — and some are politically incorrect: One showed a gun rack on the wall of a baby nursery. Bender and Chernack say they actually prefer older photos (or at least ones taken before the website launched) to ensure the pictures haven't been digitally altered to catch their eye. Their motto: “Awkwardness is all about not realizing you're being awkward.”
有些照片帶有懷舊氣氛，部分1980年代照片上的髮型應該是有史以來最難看的；有些則是政治不正確：其中一張照片顯示在小寶寶育嬰室牆上的槍架。班德和謝納克說，他們其實比較喜歡老照片（或者至少是網路開始前所拍攝的照片），以確保這些照片不至為了吸引他們注意，而動手腳經數位修片。他們的座右銘是：「只有在未意識到自己很窘時才叫窘。」
As the most awkward of awkward families ever photographed, Laurel Sparks, who, along with her dad and three siblings decked out head-to-toe in denim with a shaved head and lying atop the entire family 13 years ago. This picture is chosen as the cover of the book "Awkward Family Photos book." (pictured, Reuters) The first question that comes into mind is “Who on Earth thought that was a good idea?”
在所有po上網的家庭囧照中最困窘的一張是：蘿拉．史帕克斯和她老爸及三兄弟13年前從頭到腳穿著牛仔布衣褲，頭髮剛修過，全家疊羅漢的照片。這張照片被選為《家庭囧照》這本書的封面照（圖／路透）。大家第一個想問的問題是：「到底是誰想出這個好點子？」
“It was a combination of the photographer and my stepmom who came up with it,”Laurel Sparks said before a family reunion -- during which the attending members of the clan agreed once more to pile on Dad to recreate the 1997 shot that made them Internet-famous. “My stepmom saw some images of the photographer's work that were of kids lying on top of their parents like that, and I guess she just thought that it would translate.”
蘿拉．史帕克斯在家庭重新團聚前表示：「當初是攝影師和我繼母一起想出這樣一個點子的。」在這次家庭重新團聚時，全家人同意再次堆疊在老爸身上，以再現1997年那張早已紅遍網路的照片。「我繼母看到這位攝影師一些作品上的影像，都是小孩子像那樣趴在他們父母身上，我想她覺得我們可以依樣畫葫蘆。」
Sparks, who teaches painting, explained. “And it became really popular. When the Rachael Ray show called to see if we could come on, I had to call up my family and explain why it was on the site. My stepmom didn't understand why it was awkward. She thought it was cute. My ex saw it once and grabbed a copy, which is how my friend found it,” she laughed. “I knew exactly how weird it was. I don't spend a whole lot of time wearing denim outfits like that.”
目前在教繪畫的史帕克斯解釋說：「它變得非常受歡迎，因此當『拉蔻兒蕾秀』打電話給我，問我們能不能上節目時，我不得不打電話給我的家人，並解釋為什麼它出現在網站上。我繼母不明白這有什麼困窘的，她覺得超可愛。我前夫有一次上網看見了，抓了一個檔，結果我的朋友全看見了。」她笑了起來：「我當然知道它有多麼不可思議，畢竟我平常很少像那樣穿牛仔裝的。」
And the Sparks' family has come to accept its status as the most awkward of awkward families ever photographed. For the new shoot, Sparks explained, “The stack is shorter and modified due to an incarceration, hernia and the frailty of aging.” (But at least they're all still wearing blue jeans.)
史帕克斯的家人已經坦然接受，他們是所曾拍過囧家庭中最囧的一家的事實。至於新的照片，史帕克斯解釋說：「這個『人堆』由於年邁足不出戶，又有疝氣，加上身體虛弱而變短了。」（但至少他們都還穿藍色牛仔褲。）
As for the site's popularity, Mike says it's pretty easy to understand: “There is something kind of cathartic for people about sharing the oddness of their families. And that's what we hope the site will be — a communal celebration of awkwardness.” Now, Bender said, more than 99 percent are user-submitted. “It was insane,” he said. “I didn't expect this kind of traffic.” They've already been approached for book deals by Harper Collins, Penguin and Random House. Three Rivers said they had also signed a deal with Bender and Chernack for a third book, whose topic will be released at a later date. Awkward baby photos, perhaps?
至於該網站這麼受歡迎，麥克表示，這很容易理解：「跟大家分享家人的糗事，有某種宣洩淨化的作用。而這正是我們對這個網站最大的期許：大家一起分享囧態吧。」現在，班德說，99%以上照片是用戶自行貼上的。「實在瘋狂。」他說：「我沒想到這麼多人瀏覽。」哈潑柯林斯、企鵝和蘭登書屋都已經跟他們接觸想出書。三河出版社表示，他們也跟班德和謝納克簽署一項協議，將合作推出第3本書，主題稍晚公布，說不定是嬰兒囧照？