hilary18;
This is a very complicated matter. There are many factors to consider.
Firstly though, if the boy wants a picture of the girl, he should provide
a picture of himself too. If not, too bad! The girls is to get a preview
just as much as the boy is. He has no right over her.
Now, having said that, the main reason for this picture phenomenon,
originally, is for boy who has to travel out of town for a girl.
Which is an inconvenience, if it turns out that her looks aren’t to his satisfaction. This could’ve been avoided simply by looking at a picture of her.
Problem
1)
There are some people who are not photogenic.
They may have a major Chein, that just doesn’t register in a photo.
2)There are also those who photograph well, though the friend redting the shidduch
may have a bad photo of the girl. like eating salad, her mouth half open,
which she thinks is cute, but you don’t. or a pic taking when she was yawning or blinking, which may make her look insane, though she isn’t.
3)It could also be of when she was in high school and wasn’t so into her hair etc..
Though now, a year later, she looks like a different person.
So you really generally, can’t judge by a picture!!!
I am an expert at getting a good idea of a person physically, from a picture,
I even once told the shadchan that the girl was too tall based
on a photo of her sitting down alone. Though he promised she wasn’t over
5’10, I ended up being right, as I later found. On the date It was like deja vu.
Then I remembered my visit to the safari and i calmed down.
Though I must admit, there were times I was pleasantly surprised,
even after seeing a photo and being very doubtful.
So I suggest,(with serious experience in this matter) to anybody in the parsha,
if you want to see a photo, use it just to get a general idea,
and decide to give them a chance in person, no matter what.
Except for instance if you are slim looking for a slim mate,
and the photo reveals that the person is totally the opposite of that,
then it is fair to say, it is not what you are looking for.
Or vice versa.