Smile is a physiological reflex.
Babies practice smiling as soon as they are born, and their bodies are rehearsing this basic human pose.
However, it is a strict habit to smile, take pictures and pose for the camera.
Historians say that a photographic smile is not only a recent ritual, but also a somewhat artificial ritual: inspired by the camera industry and intertwined with the happy rise as a cultural norm in the United States
There is nothing more easily discovered than researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and Brown in this chart, and they analyzed 37,000 senior yearbook portraits from 1905 to 2013.
They measure the depth of each person's smile and draw the average geometry of their mouth over time.
As you can see in the chart below, 1910 year old high school students don't have a smile at all.
The chart shows that their lip angles are close to zero, meaning that most of their mouths are flat.
But after World War II, people grinned in their yearbook photos.
The data shows that in today's yearbook, men smile as strongly as they did in their 1950 s, and women smile more than ever before.
This is the average sequence of facts generated by researchers every decade.
The oldest photo of the 1900 s had the faces of dead eyes and bodies.
Recent photos show more smiles, especially among women.
The 949 yearbook viewed by the researchers is not part of a random sample, so their paper (
Computer vision conference to be held in December)
It is not a clear description of the development trend of school portraits.
But their analysis provides new, quantitative evidence of a huge cultural shift in American history.
In the past century, happiness has replaced seriousness as the default emotion for photography and portraits.
How did this happen?
As a country, how do we learn to smile in front of the camera? A classic —
But not enough-
The reason is that the early camera exposure time is very long and requires the subject to sit quietly for a few minutes. In those drawn-
When going out, a neutral expression is easier to maintain than a smile.
But even by the end of 1800, when technology advances to the fact that photographers can easily freeze smiles on film, people still prefer to pose serious, contemplative or even sad poses for the photos.
Historians Christina chemchemchemidova believe that people's motives are primarily cultural forces, not practical considerations.
"The etiquette norms of the past require careful control of the mouth;
In 2005 papers on the history of smiling in photos, she said: "The standard of beauty also requires a small mouth . ".
Although photography was relatively new in the 1850 s, portraits were not, traditionally saying that the right person should not show a smile or teeth in the photo.
A bright smile is considered silly, childish, or downright evil.
Citing a study by historian Fred Schroeder, Kotchemidova wrote: "In the field of fine arts, a smile is just a feature of farmers, drunkards, children, and semi-braving, indicating that
The camera changed the way people took portraits, but it did not change their perception of etiquette and beauty, at least in the early days.
According to historian Robert Leggart, British portrait photographer Richard Beard, who was shot in the 1840 s, told his subjects to say "Simme" as a reminder to keep his mouth clean.
By the turn of the century, sitting on a photo can be affordable for ordinary Americans, but the experience is still a bit embarrassing.
Camera and film company Eastman Kodak, which has almost monopoly power in the market, is trying to promote photography to the middle class by making the process look interesting.
"It's no surprise that early amateur portraits were published in studio Light [
One of Kodak photography magazines
"Show a sense of insecurity and fear in front of the camera," Kotchemidova wrote . ".
"This tension must be overcome if photography is to become popular.
Kodak began planning the process.
Kodak's extensive marketing campaign highlights the fun of photos, instructing professional photographers to look for families during the holidays to strengthen the connection between celebrations and photography.
When consumers start buying a camera for their own use, slogans like "Save your happy time with Kodak" tell them that the camera is a tool to record happiness.
An advertisement in 1908 showed a lady with a smiling white Kodak camera.
The title reads: "Now more is joy, then the added charm of the picture that tells the holiday story.
In another advertisement, a smiling woman stood in a wild flower field with the title "Kodak, you're gone . ".
Kotchemidova believes that photography smiles are a byproduct of an increasingly complex advertising culture that focuses on telling cheerful stories about products.
By the 19 th century, from canned vegetables to cars, companies were selling pictures of smiling models.
Kodak and other companies sell cameras in the same visual language
In a very yuan way
Install the smile as one of the criteria for "good snapshots.
Of course, snapshots and formal portraits are not the same thing, but official portraits are also well received over time.
There are almanac photos of Berkeley and Brown's research, showing the progress in decades from Mona Lisa smirk to full mouth.
By the age of 1950, even the president smiled in their portrait.
Harry Truman's official paintings are very friendly.
Reagan's look was like a radiant look.
By contrast, James Madison looks angry and Andrew Jackson seems completely upset.
According to the yearbook data, the smile on the photo continues to spread.
Perhaps because of the popularity of dental braces.
Dental correction ads paint one of the main pleasures of a perfect smile with their smooth photos-the ability to confidently say cheese.
Today, we model portraits that look too strong or too self-conscious. Serious or futile
It's hard to imagine that a century ago, a lot of people found it ridiculous to smile.
University of Chicago professor Elizabeth Wallace recalled in her 1913 book about Mark Twain that when a fan approached him and took a snapshot on the street, he walked with him.
"I noticed.
"At this time, Clements always poses with dignity, with a serious, almost severe expression on his face," she wrote . ".
Mark Twain responded with a joke that is now famous.
"I think the photo is the most important document, and there's nothing worse than a stupid, stupid smile being caught and fixed forever," he said . ".