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EdWood
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08 Oct 2015, 9:23 am

Is there anyone else who odd about fake smiling in pictures. Ever since I was old enough to really think about such things (around 12 or so), I have felt very uncomfortable when forced to smile in photographs, it always just felt like I was lying. It's difficult to explain to photographers or family members that I would feel better not smiling and they either think that I'm rude or will simply refuse to do anything until I smile.



m6ceb
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08 Oct 2015, 9:47 am

I always felt I had to smile but felt so awkward doing it, I find just a slight smile easier :)


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08 Oct 2015, 9:52 am

I'm an Aspie and a photographer. I can often tell when a subject is truly smiling or when they're pasting one on for the camera (it's visible in the eyes and other facial muscles), and I'd rather see no smile than a fake one. When shooting models, you usually don't want them to smile in most photos.

Myself, I also hate being told to smile for the camera as it usually looks cheesy. Now if someone can make me laugh for real, then it doesn't look too bad.



EzraS
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08 Oct 2015, 11:04 am

I usually have a blank expression.
Such as my profile pic Image

I have been trying to smile more at people. I do this by thinking about something that makes me really happy. It is a small smile. But the most famous smile of all time, the Mona Lisa, is a small smile too. I would never try a big cheesy toothy smile, I am sure that would look just awful.



Earthling
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08 Oct 2015, 11:13 am

I don't like the fake smile either, it always turns out s**t.
Feels as though I'm not using the same muscles in my face for a fake smile.

Regardless of the smile, most times I don't feel like being photographed at all.
I've often declined the offer. :)



Luzhin
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08 Oct 2015, 11:33 am

I'm usually very uncomfortable around people wanting to take my picture. It's like a continuing joke with those who know me because they always say 'smile' and I say that I am, because it 'feels' like I have a slight smile. But, once you see the photo, I either have a blank stare or a frown. There is one picture though that we have that I really did try and it looks like I'm snarling.



glebel
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08 Oct 2015, 11:42 am

I don't smile in pictures unless someone cracks a joke to make me smile. Otherwise, why put on a phony smile like society wants to condition us to?


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Joe90
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08 Oct 2015, 12:00 pm

I can't pose for photos, full stop. Especially not selfies. I look terrible!

I look OK in mirrors, and I hope my look in mirrors is more real than my look in photos. Whenever I try to take a selfie or get someone else to make my picture, no matter what facial expression I make, I look awful. If I smile, my teeth dominate my whole face, like your attention gets drawn to the teeth, having a negative effect on the rest of my face. If I just smile slightly and try to relax all my face muscles so that I look more natural, my chin look big (even though my chin is just average size), and I don't feel happy with it at all. And if I pull a more goofy face, my face looks incredibly big and long and unnatural. Ugh! I sure hope I don't look like that all the time. But when people argue that the camera does not lie, then that is frightening.


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Deinonychus
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08 Oct 2015, 12:52 pm

EzraS wrote:
I usually have a blank expression.
Such as my profile pic Image

I have been trying to smile more at people. I do this by thinking about something that makes me really happy. It is a small smile. But the most famous smile of all time, the Mona Lisa, is a small smile too. I would never try a big cheesy toothy smile, I am sure that would look just awful.


I can relate to that. As I get older, I look more like my biological father: the corners of my mouth droop in what resembles a frown. So when I think I'm smiling slightly, I'm really just negating the frown and end up with a "neutral" expression.



corroonb
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08 Oct 2015, 3:13 pm

I find it really awkward to smile for a photo. I just don't smile all that much anyway. I only do it when I'm actually happy. It looks like a grimace if I force it. I rarely show my teeth unless I'm laughing.



Nicola2206
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08 Oct 2015, 7:04 pm

I absolutely hate smiling in photos. People ask me to do it or think I'm weird, but I just hate it. I find it fake and don't feel like doing it.
I rarely do it. Almost never.


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whatamess
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08 Oct 2015, 8:16 pm

I hate pictures and having to smile even more. Every memory I have of my mom taking pictures of my sister and I, I had always been spanked right before the picture because she would get angry that I would not smile like my sister.

PS I think the autism comes from my mom's side and her mother NEVER really smiles in pictures...most of them she actually looks away and is not smiling...go figure



Jory
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08 Oct 2015, 8:20 pm

I try to avoid being photographed at all, let alone forcing smiles for them.



Grahzmann
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09 Oct 2015, 7:14 pm

I don't like faking smiles for pictures either. Sometimes I just don't even bother.



Rudin
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09 Oct 2015, 7:34 pm

Never. I also have a blank facial expression in my pictures. I tend to not look at the camera because I find it uncomfortable. In all the photos from when I was younger I wouldn't not look at the camera nor smile. My parents thought that me not looking at the camera was yet another reason that I had ADHD. ADHD was ruled out when I was 5 years old for some reason.


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Rudin
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09 Oct 2015, 7:35 pm

I also hate smiles with teeth. I just can't do it, it feels really awkward.


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"God may not play dice with the universe, but something strange is going on with prime numbers."

-Paul Erdos

"There are two types of cryptography in this world: cryptography that will stop your kid sister from looking at your files, and cryptography that will stop major governments from reading your files."

-Bruce Schneider