better vs. worse photos

what's the deal with pictures either making you look prettier than you really are or uglier than you really are? and what's the deal with always being offended by people's responses to them?

for example:

my mom emailed me months ago asking me for pictures of myself for some thing i can't remember now. i don't ever take pictures so i went on facebook to find some photos recently tagged of me.

there was this photo taken by a friend apparently standing above me. i was looking up at the camera and smiling big. because of the angle, i looked skinny. my skin was tan too, which made me look even skinnier.

i emailed the photo to my mom along with some others that were taken from good angles ;) ;) ;) ;)

it turns out she didn't use the photos i sent her. i asked her why.

her response: "they just didn't look like you."

this offended me.

my mom ended up using some fat photos of me at christmas.

she said, "i think they look pretty." this also offended me.