Why Do We Say "Cheese" When Having Our Photo Taken? We're not
sure when or where a photographer first asked his subjects to
state the name of the delicious dairy product, but we do know
that when you say "cheese," the corners of your mouth turn up,
your cheeks lift and your teeth show. It looks like a smile, and
since smiling is what we do in pictures, the instruction seems
pretty practical. The deeper question, then, is: why is a smile
the default expression for photographs? In her 2005 essay "Why
We say "˜Cheese': Producing the Smile in Snapshot Photography,"
Christina Kotchemidova, an Assistant Professor in Mass
Communication at Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL, puts forth
an interesting hypothesis that deserves a look. Picture-perfect
smiles weren't always the norm, says Kotchemidova. The photos of
the nineteenth century were ruled by stony, solemn faces. These
early photos took their cues from traditional European fine art
portraiture, where smiles were only worn by peasants, children
and drunks. The et