The other day while combing through Gov. Rick Perry’s Twitter feed (we make our own fun, don’t judge) we were jolted by a shocking revelation. Perry, the man with the best head of hair in professional politics, the guy who will burble every advantage in a debate but still manage to pose for a great mug shot, is terrible at the fine art known as the political photo-op.

Perry has been in the political arena for many moons now, so we’ve always just assumed he had already acquired all of the ridiculous-but-necessary skills required to make it in professional politics. Politicians wishing to appeal to enough of the populous to actually obtain office are more often than not skilled at kissing babies (among other things), shaking hands and smiling with absolute plastic sincerity while posing for photos that are studies at the art of insincere sincerity.

But, judging by his own Twitter feed, Perry seems to have lost the knack. Whether he is throwing his arm around a fellow politician, posing with supporters or just standing against a wall, he almost always looks like he’s about to have to take a math test. Don’t just take our word for it though. The proof is in the tweets.

In the photo below, Perry is posing Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshige Seko, and he could not look any less comfortable if his suit was held together by stick pins pushing directly into his skin.

So, so awkward:

Sort of (but not really) smiling with Florida Gov. Rick Scott:

Not even bothering to smile:

And then we realized — these photos are the ones being tweeted because he’s probably always like this in photos! It was a revelation so profound it was downright Newtonian. (Gravity exists! Perry is human!) After all, if Perry really takes such awkward photos on a regular basis, he probably is a real live human under all that hair, and one who — despite his chosen profession — doesn’t much like to get his picture took. Go figure.

This article appears in Sep 4-10, 2014.

Dianna Wray is a nationally award-winning journalist. Born and raised in Houston, she writes about everything from NASA to oil to horse races.