Cheese Friday: Cheese makes everyone happy...

Say 'cheese'

Posted February 15, 2006
By Abraham McLaughlin
Christian Science Monitor

There’s a tradition around Africa that when people get their pictures taken, they stare stone-faced into the camera.

To an American eye it looks so severe and dour. My hunch is that it’s because there aren't all that many personal cameras on the continent. Most photos here are taken for formal portraits, passport pictures, ID badges, etc. That's in contrast to the US, where most photos are informal snapshots taken with the millions of cameras that Americans own.

But it hasn’t always been that way. Think of the black-and-white portraits from the 19th century of people like Abraham Lincoln. They're all stone-faced and serious. Back then, picture-taking was a new and rare technology. Having your portrait done was a serious event. No smiles, please.

Well, it’s the same today in Africa. I may be chatting amiably with some person who’s laughing and smiling, but the minute I take out my camera, they get all serious.

So I’ve taken to telling people here about the American habit of saying "cheese" before a picture is taken. They, understandably, think this is quite strange – and begin smiling and laughing at this odd American custom. And that’s exactly what I want. They’re back to their smiling selves. And I get the picture that, to American eyes, looks natural.

-Ah, the power of Cheese.

: )