An Atlanta kindergartner known for his “huge” personality is lighting up faces across the Internet after his school photos went viral this week.
Andriel Miles said her son Andrew Miles has always been a silly kid with a big personality. It seems the 5-year-old could hardly contain his excitement for class picture day at Woodland Elementary School last Friday.
Expecting a “traditional” snapshot, Miles said she got quite the surprise when she opened her son’s backpack to find photos of him in mid-roar, snarling at the camera with his mouth wide open.
“I just screamed. I was like, ‘Oh, my!'” she told Macon station WMAZ. “I asked him if anyone asked him to make that face. He said, ‘No, I just made it.'”
At first, Miles blamed the photographer and took to Facebook to air out her frustrations, writing: “I am so mad right now! I checked my son’s bookbag to find these!!!!” She said she contacted Lifetouch School Photography for an explanation, thinking maybe her son was uncooperative during the photo shoot.
3/10/19I’m so mad right now! I checked my sons book bag and find these!!!!3/11/19 Edit: these pictures have not been…
Posted by Stronajai Miles on Sunday, March 10, 2019
“I know they train their photographers better than that,” she added. “They dropped the ball idc what anybody says…”
A spokesman for Lifetouch said company policy allows children to pose themselves.
Little Andrew’s pictures have since been shared over 40,000 times, and with them came messages of love and support from fellow online users who said the tot’s hilarious snaps gave them a laugh. It was also this outpouring of support that helped soften Miles’ initial anger over the incident.
“They opened my eyes to see that everything doesn’t need to be cookie cutter,” she said. “Being yourself is even more amazing! Knowing that his silly picture brought joy all over the world, how can I continue to be flustered?”
“The one photo showed all his personality, how sweet he is [and] how loving he is,” Miles added.
Miles said she plans on purchasing the photos, but would like for Andrew to do retakes. As for her son, Andrew says he plans on making the same face in next year’s photos.
Watch more in the video below.