Pictures of Ex-Girlfriends

Having general pictures of her, I would not have a problem with. The naked ones would be a no-no for me. I would also not be comfortable with having them on display. I still have pictures of ex's, but they are in boxes/storage as part of my past.

Have a talk with your partner, you both need to come to a compramise that both of you can be comfortable with.
 
As long as the ex-girlfr is definatly in his past, then its none of my business.

If he was constantly looking at them...then that could be a problem.
 
I don't think there is anything wrong with keeping the pictures, but I do see a problem with the pictures being kept on display.

I totally agree with this. My husband has a bunch of photos of him and his ex on vacation in one of his photo albums, and I don't see anything wrong with that at all, because it's part of his life and his past and he's entitled to it. His experiences in the past made him who he is today and I respect that. I have photos of some of my exes in my photo albums too.

On the other hand, actually displaying the photos means that it's something he wants to look at all the time and bring into the present, not just remember in the past, and that wouldn't be OK with me.

BTW what is the significance of keeping the artistic naked photos? Is he an amateur photographer or something?
 
maybe it's because i'm still quite young, but my friends and i have hundreds upon hundreds of digital pictures of each other and our friends/SOs/exes on facebook, myspace, etc. even if i went to the trouble to get rid of all the physical ones, it would be nearly impossible to get rid of ALL the pics out there, since a lot of them would be in others' online accounts, but still able to be viewed by all. my most recent ex had several pictures of him and one of his exes on his facebook account, and it didn't bother me at all. it was a part of his life for quite a while, it would be silly of me to expect him to pretend that it didn't happen. i was confident in my role in his life, so they were not threatening to me. he didn't spend time looking at them longingly or anything - that would have been wierd, but short of that, what's the problem?

even the naked ones...i've dated several guys that were either art majors, amateur photographers, etc. if i KNEW that that was one of their interests or the thing they wanted to do with their life, artistic nude photos of ANYONE, ex or not, wouldn't really bother me. we all have a history, and if it were important to him, i wouldn't want him to throw away part of his portfolio.

even if they weren't artistic or he wasn't a photographer, i'm not sure that i would really care...i dunno, if i'm not comfortable with my role in a guy's life and how his exes play into it, i think i'd have to reevaluate the relationship.
 
I wouldn't have a problem with the old pictures if they were in a box somewhere or on the computer, but I definitely would have a problem if they were on display in the living room or bedroom.
 
Mshel's opinion...
pictures of ex's..depends on the individuals whether it bothers them or not...

nekid pics...uh huh. Disrespectful to you to keep those around. Too intimate.
 
My BF does have pictures of exes in the house. Most of them are of his ex wife and were taken with his son when he was smaller, but a couple of them are of him and the ex together. I never had a problem with it.

While looking through his stuff once I saw pics of him posed all up with his ex girlfriend--she is the one he dated during/after his divorce, but before me. I don't really care about those either. They're in one of his sock drawers. He also has pics taken with her at other events, like parties, and on trips. I figure that they're his pictures and his property, and if he wants to hang on to them he has every right.

None of the photos are displayed at all, and they're all in drawers somewhere. It's odd because he and I have taken few photos together. We usually get someone to snap a picture of us on New Year's Day, but that's it. And most of the ones he and I have together are digital.

I guess I have more to worry about than who he has pictures of. I really couldn't care less.
 
awful. What I did to my husband's ex-gf's photos / stuffs. I threw it away when we were still dating and got the chance to clean his room at that time. When he got up, I told him what I did and he didn't even mind at all. LOL.

I'm glad your husband was ok with that, cause that would have caused a huge issue. Going through my stuff, without permission, then taking it upon yourself to throw stuff out? No no no nooo...

As far as them being displayed...if it was a group photo of them with others, no biggie. Just the two of them, or them showing affection, put them away in a box. Nude pics...same deal. Even if they were full on porn. Just pack them away. Everyone has a past and it's not my place to tell someone, or take it upon myself, to throw someone's past away.
 
I used to keep pictures of my exes, too, but since they were always packed away and never looked at, I figured why bother? I threw them out. I don't keep much that isn't useful!

I would have an issue with him keeping the pictures readily available to view, even in albums that weren't packed away in boxes. Nude photographs or photos of him and an ex in an album in a bookshelf in my/our home? Where my children can pull it out and ask about it? I think not.
 
My DH has gifts/pics in his drawer/attic from ex GFs he dated. He also has pictures from places he's traveled to without me. To me, those are part of his history as a person. He doesn't have any emotional connection to them, other than something that happened in his past.

Considering what I'd experienced earlier in my life: a BF (ex) threw out my stuff without my permission. He threw out pictures, personal effects including my address book b/c it had former BF names in it. I felt completely violated, like he was annihilating my past. He was beyond jealous, he was insecure and hateful.

If the pictures bother you too much, have a talk or at least some kind of compromise, like putting all the ex pics in a box out of sight.
 
Thanks for all of the replies. To answer a few of the questions many of you have asked: the photos are not on display, they are digital images that I found when I was using his computer. I feel embarrassed to say, but I found them in the trash bin of iPhoto, but I think they are actually saved somewhere else on the computer b/c when I right clicked on some of them, it showed me the file path and the folder they were in with other photos.

So, I feel a bit conflicted about whether I should bring it up again. I say again, because he and I have spoken about my feelings around pictures of his exs (at the time, I did not know if he had any naked looking photos, but I said that if he did, I did not feel comfortable with him keeping them, and then added, at least not in a place where I would run across them - in retrospect, I realize that is not true, and I feel uncomfortable with them full stop!). Anyhow, he was very respectful and sensitive to my feelings and we did not speak about it more afterward. I am respectful of his past and also understand that photos may not mean the same to him as to me because he works in photography - so some of these images may not be "photos of his ex" but rather "examples of his work" (I am just guessing and trying to give him the benefit of the doubt).

About the naked photos, I did not find tons only two, and they were indeed quite artistic (meaning you couldn't really see anything) and not sexual. They were also of a very old ex who I have met and he considers a friend (granted he hardly sees her since we became serious ~ 3 years ago). That said, it is still uncomfortable for me to have seen these photos - and I feel bad because I found them and now feel uncertain if they were truly deleted or really saved somewhere else on the computer (perhaps some of you are familiar with iphoto, and can answer this question). In any case, the other side of me tells myself that I am being silly because I trust him fully and we are able to speak about things openly and he is very respectful of my feelings (plus, these women are not part of his life, so they are really just images, nothing more). Anyhow, I have been mulling this over for the past few days, and part of me wants to return to the computer and simply delete them! But I know that would not be respectful at all; and it might be downright silly if they are actually deleted and the file path that iPhoto shows you from the trash can may not mean a damn thing… Anyhow, ladies, thanks for letting me “get that out”.