diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index ba463154..0beaec04 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -25,3 +25,4 @@ requests==2.3.0
 enum34==1.0
 
 django-reversion==1.8.1
+easy-thumbnails==2.0
diff --git a/settings/common.py b/settings/common.py
index 89885837..2caacaa1 100644
--- a/settings/common.py
+++ b/settings/common.py
@@ -191,6 +191,7 @@ INSTALLED_APPS = [
     "rest_framework",
     "djmail",
     "django_jinja",
+    "easy_thumbnails",
 ]
 
 WSGI_APPLICATION = "taiga.wsgi.application"
@@ -306,4 +307,21 @@ if "test" in sys.argv:
     print ("Try: \033[1;33mpy.test\033[0m")
     sys.exit(0)
 
-DEFAULT_AVATAR_URL = ""
+SOUTH_MIGRATION_MODULES = {
+    'easy_thumbnails': 'easy_thumbnails.south_migrations',
+}
+
+DEFAULT_AVATAR_SIZE = 80                # 80x80 pixels
+
+DEFAULT_AVATAR_URL = ''
+
+THUMBNAIL_ALIASES = {
+    '': {
+        'avatar': {'size': (DEFAULT_AVATAR_SIZE, DEFAULT_AVATAR_SIZE), 'crop': True},
+    },
+}
+
+GRAVATAR_DEFAULT_OPTIONS = {
+    'default': DEFAULT_AVATAR_URL, # default avatar to show if there's no gravatar image
+    'size': DEFAULT_AVATAR_SIZE
+}
diff --git a/taiga/base/utils/urls.py b/taiga/base/utils/urls.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2e5d71be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/taiga/base/utils/urls.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import django_sites as sites
+
+URL_TEMPLATE = "{scheme}://{domain}/{path}"
+
+
+def build_url(path, scheme="http", domain="localhost"):
+    return URL_TEMPLATE.format(scheme=scheme, domain=domain, path=path.lstrip("/"))
+
+
+def is_absolute_url(path):
+    """Test wether or not `path` is absolute url."""
+    return path.startswith("http")
+
+
+def get_absolute_url(path):
+    """Return a path as an absolute url."""
+    if is_absolute_url(path):
+        return path
+    site = sites.get_current()
+    return build_url(path, scheme=site.scheme, domain=site.domain)
diff --git a/taiga/users/gravatar.py b/taiga/users/gravatar.py
index dc48dba8..fc1fa0f0 100644
--- a/taiga/users/gravatar.py
+++ b/taiga/users/gravatar.py
@@ -3,22 +3,26 @@ from urllib.parse import urlencode
 
 from django.conf import settings
 
+from taiga.base.utils.urls import get_absolute_url
+
+
 GRAVATAR_BASE_URL = "http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/{}?{}"
 
 
 def get_gravatar_url(email: str, **options) -> str:
     """Get the gravatar url associated to an email.
 
-    :param options: Additional options to gravatar:
-    - `d` defines what image url to show if no gravatar exists
-    - `s` defines the size of the avatar.
-    By default these options are:
-    - `d` is `settings.DEFAULT_AVATAR_URL`
-    - `s` gravatar's default value which is 80x80 px
+    :param options: Additional options to gravatar.
+    - `default` defines what image url to show if no gravatar exists
+    - `size` defines the size of the avatar.
+    By default the `settings.GRAVATAR_DEFAULT_OPTIONS` are used.
 
     :return: Gravatar url.
     """
-    defaults = {'d': settings.DEFAULT_AVATAR_URL}
+    defaults = settings.GRAVATAR_DEFAULT_OPTIONS.copy()
+    default = defaults.get("default", None)
+    if default:
+        defaults["default"] = get_absolute_url(default)
     defaults.update(options)
     email_hash = hashlib.md5(email.lower().encode()).hexdigest()
     url = GRAVATAR_BASE_URL.format(email_hash, urlencode(defaults))
diff --git a/taiga/users/serializers.py b/taiga/users/serializers.py
index 1108a14d..a82c95d5 100644
--- a/taiga/users/serializers.py
+++ b/taiga/users/serializers.py
@@ -15,10 +15,12 @@
 # along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
+from django.conf import settings
 
 from rest_framework import serializers
 
 from .models import User
+from .services import get_photo_url
 from .gravatar import get_gravatar_url
 
 
@@ -37,7 +39,11 @@ class UserSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
 
     def get_photo(self, user):
         "Return the user photo or her gravatar"
-        return user.photo or get_gravatar_url(user.email)
+        if user.photo:
+            url = get_photo_url(user.photo)
+        else:
+            url = get_gravatar_url(user.email)
+        return url
 
 
 class RecoverySerializer(serializers.Serializer):
diff --git a/taiga/users/services.py b/taiga/users/services.py
index a8349c58..a7da3473 100644
--- a/taiga/users/services.py
+++ b/taiga/users/services.py
@@ -21,7 +21,10 @@ This model contains a domain logic for users application.
 from django.db.models.loading import get_model
 from django.db.models import Q
 
+from easy_thumbnails.files import get_thumbnailer
+
 from taiga.base import exceptions as exc
+from taiga.base.utils.urls import get_absolute_url
 
 
 def get_and_validate_user(*, username:str, password:str) -> bool:
@@ -44,3 +47,9 @@ def get_and_validate_user(*, username:str, password:str) -> bool:
         raise exc.WrongArguments("Username or password does not matches user.")
 
     return user
+
+
+def get_photo_url(photo):
+    """Get a photo absolute url and the photo automatically cropped."""
+    url = get_thumbnailer(photo)['avatar'].url
+    return get_absolute_url(url)
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_utils.py b/tests/unit/test_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c9481155
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import django_sites as sites
+
+from taiga.base.utils.urls import get_absolute_url, is_absolute_url, build_url
+
+
+def test_is_absolute_url():
+    assert is_absolute_url("http://domain/path")
+    assert is_absolute_url("https://domain/path")
+    assert not is_absolute_url("://domain/path")
+
+
+def test_get_absolute_url():
+    site = sites.get_current()
+    assert get_absolute_url("http://domain/path") == "http://domain/path"
+    assert get_absolute_url("/path") == build_url("/path", domain=site.domain, scheme=site.scheme)