Photographs tell us about people, places or events and are usually a fond reminder of something. This poem starts off in a predictable manner and we are drawn into the poem by its natural flow and conversational tone.

We start to relax and look forward to images of an idyllic time spent by the lake. The mystery builds up as we wonder and wait expectantly to see the photograph, hear more about it and envision the event. The precise descriptions that are offered add to the mystery of this poem as we shall never actually "see" this photograph of "her." 

We are not prepared for what follows and there is no warning. The conversational tone remains and is almost matter-of-fact. It changes the setting to a morbid, depressing place but one where we are not allowed to linger. Margaret Attwood addresses the drowning as she might any other occurence that day.

Taking the words "I am in the lake, in the center/ of the picture," increases the ambiguity in this poem as we are not sure what we are interpreting: it is supposed to be a picture of a person, perhaps in a boat, even waving at the photographer but instead is a shocking reference to a tragic event.

The mystery explained, she urges us to "look long enough" which is even more confusing as we will never "see" her. How horrifying to look for a dead body floating in the water "just under the surface." What are we really loking for? What is the deeper meaning? The ambiguity increases (but this is the end and its supposed to be clear by now!) as we wonder what we are supposed to understand from this poem. We do not expect to be confused by a title and a poem that seems so

 simple, clear, and straightforward.

Such is the paradox. Appearance versus reality are presented so subtely in this poem. The false sense of security we feel is completely shattered by the revelation. Margaret Attwood wants her readers to understand how life goes on. Some people will never see the subject of the photograph floating in the  lake so will be unaffected by it. Others, whilst affected by it, will move on with their lives.

'The more things change the more they stay' the same is very relevant to the essence of this poem.

Comment on the mystical and ambiguous nature of "This is a Photograph of Me."

There are two sections to the poem "This is a Photograph of Me." The first section describes an old photograph depicting a lake, some hills, a house, and the branch of a tree. If we only had this section of the poem (and the title), we would assume that the speaker ("me") was in the picture, perhaps posing in front of the lake or the house. We might then suppose her appearance juxtaposed to this natural, serene setting. 

The second section of the poem is in parentheses. Writers use parentheses to add supplementary material or critical commentary. In other words, information in parentheses is not always necessary to get the meaning of the main text. Therefore, the information that the speaker has drowned does not really prevent the reader from trying to picture the speaker, as the reader attempts in the first section. It certainly does add a shocking insight, but remember that in the first section, we had only the physical description of the environment; not the speaker herself. Therefore, we had to conjure her. Consider these lines: 

I am in the lake, in the center
of the picture, just under the surface. 
. . . 
but if you look long enough, 
eventually
you will be able to see me.) 

Whether or not we know the speaker is dead, we still can not see her. We have to look beyond the surface of the photograph and/or beyond the surface of the lake. Maybe this is a statement about looking beyond the superficial. Maybe she haunts this place or the memory of this place haunts her. One thing is for sure; the advice the speaker gives is that one must look past the surface of things (and/or people) to truly understand them. If there is a mystical quality here, it might be that a deeper, more profound understanding of a poem, of life, or of another person is analogous to looking at a gravestone (the lake or photograph being like a gravestone) and that such a gravestone is only a surface behind which lies memories and an entire life story. To discover the deeper meanings and stories, you have to "look long enough."