Both men and women. Is it to do with the way they smile/pose for the camera or something? Seriously, I can almost tell someone is American by the way their neck looks in a photo

  • Synnr@sopuli.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Would it be wrong to assume you are self-conscious about your teeth (crooked, missing, etc)? This is the case with every American I know that doesn’t like to smile on photos, although sometimes they’re people who are happy to do full-burst laughter showing all in small trusted group settings.

    • railsdev@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      1 year ago

      I have very white, straight teeth (always get complimented, it’s weird) yet I can’t stand smiling in photos either. I always look like a dementor or serial killer; a natural smile? Sure but posing for the camera all cheesy? Hell no

      • Synnr@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        I don’t know if this is the case with you but if you have naturally wide eyes (say, anxiety for example) then a full tooth smile is creepy looking. Relaxed eyes on the other hand (think pictures of happily stoned people) are fine showing full mouth IMO.

        Although some people “grit” or “bare(/bear?)” their teeth in an attempt to fake a natural laughter smile and… no. The muscles around the mouth should be relaxed not tense. There’s no substitute for a candid laughter smile. But not many people can fake the crows feet in the eyes of a real smile, so if someone is more comfortable smiling with no teeth showing, that’s more than fine.

        I’ve done a bit of photography in my day.

        • railsdev@programming.dev
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          If I can think of something funny on the spot and laugh a little bit I feel less creepy, but sometimes it’s just difficult to do that right then and there.

          As for bearing(?) the teeth, a few times I caught myself doing this unintentionally as I get older; I always feel like an idiot afterward because I’ve always known this isn’t the way. It could be due to the fact that I’m (happily) rarely involved in these sort of photos as life goes on.

    • bipmi@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      Im not particularly conscious and I do sometimes smile with some teeth showing, like if I was laughing super hard and my teeth just happened to be showing I wouldnt try to hide it. But if I am, say, taking a group photo, I dont smile with all my teeth out. Its just weird to me.