Bet You Forgot That Jessa Was the OG Duggar Family Photographer

When it comes to the Duggars, we all know that Jinger Duggar is the official photographer of the fam, but it turns out that wasn’t always the case. Back in the day, when we were first starting to watch the reality TV show family in 17 Kids and Counting, it was actually older sister Jessa Duggar who was the one behind the camera. While TLC may have dedicated some screentime to Jinger seeking out a professional photographer in her area to be her mentor on Counting On, original episodes of their show tell a different story. 

Back in Season 1 of 19KaC, some of the older kids traveled down to Florida to help Josh Duggar and his soon-to-be-bride then-Anna Keller get ready for their wedding. And while they were there, they also snapped some quick engagement photos. Yes, Jinger was there too, but it was Jessa who they picked to actually take their pictures. “Jessa is a good photographer,” Josh told the cameras. “She really has natural talent at photography. She knows to get good angles and that kind of stuff.” 

Photo Credit: TLC

OK, so it doesn’t exactly sound like she’s an expert so much as just the one that got tasked with the job, but that didn’t stop Josh from raving about all her God-given skill. It didn’t hurt that Jessa apparently volunteered to do it so they wouldn’t have to pay an actual photographer. “[Jessa] was gonna do it for free and she was gonna give it to us as a gift, and I’m like that’s great! Go ahead!” Josh laughed.  

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So Jessa got stuck snapping shots and sounded, well, less than thrilled to do it. “I’m the photographer for this trip I guess,” she explained. “I’m trying to get pictures of Josh and Anna, their engagement pictures right now, so…” And can we just say they turned out incredible? Which is to say incredibly awkward? Not only are those poses straight up hilarious, but we also need to talk about the fact that Josh and Anna are wearing matching striped shirts with matching denim bottoms as they pose for photos with their chins on their fists or awkwardly squatting over each other. Like, what is going on here? 

We gotta say, watching this shoot go down, there seemed to be a distinct lack of direction — or artistic vision — on Jessa’s part. Or maybe it was more of a Josh and Anna problem. After all, the Duggar son was hardly being himself. “It’s not Josh Duggar, it’s Josh in love,” he told cameras. We’re just going to throw this back in the pile with the rest of the “Josh Duggar was a weirdo and we’re glad he’s not still on the show” pile and be done with it.