Wipe That Smile Off Your Face
October 31st, 2009
Published in
Photography
3 Comments
Tags: directing, headshots, inspiration, portrait-photography, smiles
I’m guilty. Asking the person in front of my camera to say cheese is such a cliché, but I have done it many times. However, just recently I was struck with a violent disgust for it. It came from thoughts that had been rummaging around in my head, a mixture of overexposure through other people’s photos and hating every fake smile in my own work. The time has come to take a stand. Never again will I (knowingly) ask my subject to smile for the camera.
Before I go on, let me add that I love smiles. Real ones. They bring out so much of the smiler’s personality, it’s no wonder it became a crutch for photographers to lean on. But if it’s fake, it shows. So, why not concentrate on making your subject smile for real?
It’s not that hard, when you think about it. All you have to do is connect with the person or people you are working with. If you can’t do that, you should probably find another profession anyway. By its very nature, portrait photography is about capturing the essence of your subjects. If you’re good, you get what you need without staging it.
I want to be good. Or better at least, and that is another reason I am swearing off the smiles. That part of it is about pushing myself in new directions; which is the only way any of us learn. I want to work on being more empathic, because I know it will make my photography better, maybe even help set it apart from the masses.
This is not a spur of the moment anti-smile rebellion. It started when I read one of Annie Leibovitz’s books. She was talking about how smiling at the camera produces fake memories. When you look at photos of previous generations, wouldn’t you rather get a feel for the people in the images, than check the condition of their pearly whites? I would.
Leibovitz planted the seed, and soon I started noticing that many of my favorite photographers never seemed to have a single fake smile in their work. Finally, having had a recent influx of headshot clients, the seed finally bloomed into a full flower. This post is me picking that flower and giving it a good sniff. And I like what I smell.
I’m not saying you have to do the same to be a kick-ass photographer. Thousands of industry professionals ask for fake smiles on a daily basis and are both successful and happy. I just know, I could never be one of them.
Photo credit: Me
Related Posts
November 2nd, 2009at 1:40 am(#)
Nice post. I agree with what you said. When I am posing for a picture I think it feels so fake and shallow to paste on a smile. I have started to just look at the camera with the ‘face’ I currently have. The problem i found with that though (over the last year or so) is I always look ‘unhappy’ with a regular / normal face when compared to everyone beside me who pasted on a happy smile :) so now I have tried to eek out at least a little smile.
It is strange though, it is like we don’t really want to remember the past as it actually was but what we wanted it to be. We want to remember it like there was smiles all the time. It would make for interesting photo albums though if no one was allowed to smile. It would be much more real.
November 10th, 2009at 8:41 pm(#)
Agreed. I was shooting my nine- and seven-year-old nieces this past weekend. When told to smile, they look forced and unnatural. When I caught them off guard – smiling while at play or not smiling at all – they look positively lovely.
For one of my favourites for the weekend, I caught the elder girl unprepared and she’s looking quite seriously into the camera. I think I captured a maturity in her I hadn’t noticed before.
December 23rd, 2009at 4:12 pm(#)
[...] recently read a complaint from Rasmus Rasmussen about forced smiles. I agree with his argument that a forced, fake smile does not make a good picture. Life [...]