How did the phrase "Say cheese!" Appear, and when people began to smile in front of the camera

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

“Now say syyyyyyyr!” - this phrase is traditionally uttered by photographers to bring a smile to the people who are shooting. Moreover, this technique is so widespread that it is enough for a person with a camera to pronounce the word "syyyyyr" (and in the original, of course, "cheese"), so that the faces of his models spread into a smile. But at the same time, few know how this charming move appeared in the arsenal of people with a camera.

Today it is difficult to say why exactly the word "syyyyyr" was chosen to bring a smile on the faces of people in front of the camera. However, when pronouncing the sound "y", the person's mouth just spreads out into a smile. Yet the first known mention of this phrase dates back to around the 1940s, and appeared in the press in The Big Spring Herald in 1943.

But where did the idea come from that you need to smile in photographs, because in old photographs people pose with serious faces. The initiative belongs to the then American Ambassador Joseph Davis, who in his book "Mission to Moscow" in 1942 "revealed the secret" of how he always managed to look benevolent and likable in any official photo. His secret turned out to be nowhere simpler - Joseph Davis just silently said "cheese" at the time of shooting. Also, the former ambassador admitted that he learned about this from the "great politician", whose identity he did not want to disclose.

Today it is generally accepted that the "politician" of whom Joseph Davis spoke was none other than Franklin Roosevelt (it was under him that Davis served as ambassador). But whether Roosevelt invented this trick himself or learned it from someone, today we can only guess. Previously, people did not have to worry about sparkling a white-toothed smile in a photo. For example, during the Victorian era (1837-1901), the standards of etiquette and beauty were quite different from those of today. In Victorian times, a small mouth with tightly compressed lips was considered beautiful.

Smiles at this time in the pictures were found only in children, peasants and drunken people. Long exposure times for photographs are considered one of the most cited reasons for maintaining a serious facial expression during the Victorian era. To understand where this theory came from, and why it is most likely wrong, you need a brief history of photography. The history of photography began with Thomas Wedgwood in 1790, but the earliest known photograph belongs to the French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce and dates back to 1826.

The photo is titled "View from the window at Le Gras." It is believed that it took 8 hours of exposure to make it, but in fact the process could take several days. This exposure time, to put it mildly, was not conducive to taking pictures of people, so the technology continued to be further improved. In 1839, Louis Daguerre introduced a new form of photography, the daguerreotype, in which the image was captured directly on a photographic plate. This did not allow reproduction of the images, but significantly reduced the exposure time.

Daguerreotypes remained extremely popular until the 1860s. From 1839 to 1845, the exposure time for daguerreotypes was about 60-90 seconds. Those. it was difficult to sit still and smiling for such a time, but not impossible. By 1845, the exposure time for daguerreotypes had dropped to just a few seconds. Most of the vintage photographs that have survived to this day are daguerreotypes taken after 1845. But on them smiles of posing people are also clearly not observed.

So, with one theory sorted out. Another theory for why people didn't smile in photographs during the Victorian era is that oral hygiene was absolutely terrible at the time. The most common treatment for diseased teeth at the time was to remove them. There were no fillings, crowns, etc. that could make a smile more beautiful.

Keep in mind that daguerreotypes were expensive. The rich were likely to be photographed much more often than the poor, and even so, most families were photographed only on special occasions, often only once in a lifetime. Most of these photos were taken in professional photo studios.

Therefore, there were no deviations from etiquette and casual smiles in the photo. What was socially acceptable for photography during the Victorian era reflected the standards of beauty and etiquette of the time. After all, no one wanted to be photographed for the only time in their life, having paid off a lot of money for it, and looking in the picture like a “stupid grinning drunkard”. Now fast forward to 1888. This year, George Eastman founded Kodak, which is best known for the production of photographic film.

Kodak has changed the face of photography more than anyone. Kodak made photography available to most people. In 1895, the company released its first Pocket Kodak pocket camera for $ 5 ($ 135 in current prices). And in 1900, the $ 1 Kodak Brownie came in, changing the world of photography forever.

Brownie's camera was so inexpensive and easy to use that anyone could take a picture. In fact, the Kodak slogan at this time was: "You press the button, we do the rest." For the first time, photography became possible as a hobby. Pictures with “everyday moments in life” became a reality, and more and more smiles appeared on them.

With the invention of films, the film industry also emerged. Although most films made before the 1930s were silent, people were able to see the everyday life and facial expressions of the actors on the wide screen. Movie stars of that era often appeared in photos with a smile on their face. As you know, the media and Hollywood have a huge impact on the standards of social etiquette and beauty.

And as more celebrities shone white-toothed smiles on film, smiling became more socially acceptable for photographs. So, the tradition of smiling in photographs appeared in the early 1900s, due to the fact that more and more random moments "from life" appeared both in films and in amateur photographs.

BY THE WAY…

George Washington had incredibly bad teeth, and at the time of his inauguration in 1789, the President of the United States had only one natural tooth. Now, for a moment, it's worth imagining what it would look like in the photograph if Washington decided to smile.

Everyone who is interested in the history of photography is of great interest and 20 sensual photos from the first "nude" album officially published in the USSR, which became a world sensation.