There was a time when after you ask everyone to
“smile
”, the
kids (and adults) would turn to the camera and actually give a nice big grin
and everyone would turn out looking happy and harmonious in the picture
– at least just for that microsecond.
What happened just before and after the shot is a separate story. Imagine chaos
erupting with people screaming, cutlery being thrown, some on phones, another
talking with noodles spilling out of their mouths and noses
– but when you shouted Smile!,
everyone dropped what they were doing, turned to the camera, smiled (noodles
still dangling from the corner), and froze for as long as the app took to
register the click of the screen
– which
sometimes takes unnaturally long resulting in awkward silences and weird poses
– sometimes within the setting of a
public place.
 |
| Hunger tends to make one feel like taking a family photograph |
But now, it is
actually the other way around. When someone says Smile!, one or more of these
things would happen. People would:
- Cover their faces,
- Turn away from the camera,
- Completely ignore the request and carry on doing
whatever they were doing, but with more intensity and concentration – e.g. playing harder
their phone, stuffing food into their faces with renewed vigor,
- Start doing the dab where one of both arms cover their faces,
- Look really grumpy and dissatisfied.
 |
| Relax - it was at a traffic light. |
Can’t they
see we are making memories and that many years from now they will look back and
wonder “Why do I look so grumpy in all these
pictures?” The comment I always hear is "Why do you have to take pictures all the time while we are eating?". And the answer of course is, because that's the only place when everyone is sitting down together - which is not really true, we sometimes also take selfies in the car!
