Sometimes a smile just doesn't seem fitting. Will people look back a hundred years from now and wonder why everyone was smiling? Hardly anyone was smiling in old photos, but perhaps that simply reflects challenging lifestyles. What does all this smiling and saying 'cheese' say about us?
2006-10-08 02:53:19 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Visual Arts ➔ Photography
I hardly ever smile for the camera. I'm just not a "smiler". It's funny that in the animal kingdom it's regarded as a threatening gesture, because it bares the teeth, which is mistaken for snarling. Smiling is a uniquely human trait, so I hope that in a 100 yrs. people aren't too baffled as to why people were smiling so much in our time - if that happens it could mean scientists have spliced the smile gene out of our genome because it served no useful purpose and didn't aid in productivity *shiver* I do find that I get a much better response from people when I smile, so I should try to do it more often. No one smiled in old photos because life was so bloody hard back then and it was all they could do to not break down in tears. (Ok, Pam & Kara J are probably right. I remember hearing the same thing in a photo class, but I think my unconventional theory still holds some weight) Hmm... I don't think you've ever seen a pic of me smiling. I'll try to find one of the two known photos in existence and post it as a blog, just so you know that I'm capable of such a feat.
2006-10-08 12:28:03 · answer #1 · answered by ? 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The reason that people didn't smile in old photographs is because they had such long exposure times. They would have to hold a pose for 30 seconds or longer. Holding a smile for that long is hard work to keep in consistant so it doesn't show up on film as a blur. Also, people didn't have that great of teeth, so they probably didn't want them to show.
One can only speculate what people will think of us one hundred years from now. It might say that we were happy back in the day...
2006-10-08 09:55:48 · answer #2 · answered by pamphotographer 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The people in old photos didn't smile because the picture took a long time to take so they would get tired of smiling(it took like 5 minutes). The cheese thing is just because it makes your mouth kind of go into a smile when you say "cheese". Just do a small smile or a goofy face, they're funner than regular smiles.
2006-10-08 15:11:36 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Back in the old days, photography was a novelty and not as commonplace as it is today, people probably wanted to be remembered as being serious minded. The photos are generally not candid, but very structured, serious business does not require a smile.
I try not to be photographed. I don't want people a hundred years from now being scared.
2006-10-08 03:07:20 · answer #4 · answered by need2knw 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well also it was a pain in the @ss to smile for 15 minutes back then, but as you already know, no I don't always smile. I don't always want to look like a friggin psychotic Teletubby or something.
Also, to elaborate on igo's anthropological tangent, if you read Desmond Morris's "The Naked Ape" he explains fully the evolution of the smile. He posits that some apes (or protohumans or something) bare teeth as a sign of fear, not aggression. The signal of fear in turn became a signal that the individual was not a threat (presumably as something that is fearful is probably not somethig *to* fear) and then eventually it's current meaning of general friendliness or approval that it is today.
2006-10-09 11:00:49 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I always smile for the camera. Photos are forever. Let all the people in the future who might look at your photo see your bright & smiling face.'
2006-10-08 03:01:17 · answer #6 · answered by Bluealt 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It says most people are hams. It's appropriate to smile when you feel like smiling - otherwise don't unless you're asked. I agree about the universal grinning faces. One wonders what they might look like in real life. But the universal solemnity of Victorian photos makes one sorry for the poor beggars.
2006-10-08 02:58:09 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't alwayss smile in picture, something when taking picture is not alway necessary to smile. Some of my best picture that I take are blank faces. Especially of just snap shots, sometimes people don't have the chance to smile.
2006-10-09 07:09:32 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
No!! I don't like smiling for the camera personally. Unless I am caught by a good candid shot, my smile always looks fake and lopsided to me. And please don't make me say "cheese"... I'll get tickled and it looks like I'm saying something else entirely!
2006-10-09 12:46:14 · answer #9 · answered by Sassy 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I really can't smile for the camera. Whenever I try, I look as if I have eaten something very bitter.
2006-10-08 03:03:30 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋