Not much of a likeness

My new Driving Licence arrived very quickly - only four days after trekking to Haywards Heath Post Office for a fresh photo, and a counter application, it popped through my front door. There was only a small plastic card and a covering letter. Nowadays you get only that card, and there is no printed paper 'counterpart' as there used to be. A welcome bit of streamlining.

I rather expected the card itself to look different from the one it replaced, but it was much the same. The main change was that it now bore a prominent Union Jack.

But alas, the EU flag was still there in the top left corner. Mind you, it will be gone when I reapply for another new licence in 2022.

Yes, this licence isn't valid for the usual ten years. It will take me to 5th July 2022 only, which is the day before I am seventy. I'll be reapplying in June 2022, and will have to confirm that I am fully fit to drive. Who knows, by then I may need a doctor's certificate to that effect, although I'm sure I will pass any health checks with flying colours. But ongoing, I'll have to re-certify every three years in the future, no doubt paying a fee each time. Hey ho.

I've tucked my licence away where I can instantly produce it. It functions as an ID card. It's still rare to be asked for any form of ID, but of course having it ready to hand is a good idea, especially in any close encounter with the police, as I would always aim to help them in the performance of their duties. At least, I hope it will help them in the performance of their duties. I'm not too confident that an officer looking at the licence will recognise me! Here it is.

I slightly exaggerate. It is me. If you compare my face (without glasses on) to that image, you do see a similarity. But when you look at the picture I took of myself on the same day at home (sans glasses), I wonder how the sophisticated camera in that fancy booth at Haywards Heath Post Office managed to degrade my likeness so. Here's the 'real' me again, in monochrome:

Somehow the 'official' picture has turned my hair ultra-blonde, and smoothed away nearly all the blemishes of age. It's undeniably flattering. I now look like a movie starlet or model who still gets work. Whereas the selfie I took at home, though true to life, reveals the awful truth that my film and catwalk career is over.

The funny thing is, the image on my last Driving Licence (taken in 2010) was not at all flattering. Here it is, side-by-side with the new picture:

Left, 2010. Right, 2019.

In the 2010 picture (left) I look like an angry young revolutionary or activist. Hard and no-nonsense. It was one I took myself as a printed-out photo and sent in with the paper application form. So I was able to balance it properly for tone and contrast, and it was inherently high-resolution. That's partly why it retained its sharpness and 'punch' through the card-manufacturing process. Whereas the 2019 shot probably wasn't so high-res in the first place, and has degraded much more. It's made me look dreamy, and soft as butter - a pushover for sure. Only the right eyebrow hints at anything else.

I expect that the new shot will have to be used for my online passport renewal in ten months' time. So be it. At least it looks more like me than the one taken in 2010!