Comments on: Why Do We Say “Cheese” When Having Our Photo Taken?

By: Joanna

Joanna — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:34:52 +0000

“When photographic portraits were first taken, the subject’s head had to be held in a clamp so that it did not move – for 4 hours! Try smiling with your head clamped into one position for that long.”

Exposure times were down to a few minutes by the 1860s. So: Head clamps, yes; neutral expressions, yes (because they’re easier to hold for 5-10 minutes); four-hour exposures, no.

By: Pilly

Pilly — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:55:01 +0000

My sister told me in Japan, they never really understood the concept of saying “Cheese”. The photographer of the group will say “Hai! Chizu!” (“yes, cheese”) and then take the picture, while everyone else smiled without having to say something. :)

By: Charles

Charles — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:49:08 +0000

When I did portraits in the local mall I’d always tell kids to say chocolate. No “long e” sound, but it almost always got genuine smiles.

By: zee

zee — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 17:34:38 +0000

In Chile, they say “Whiskey!” That also works, but I think ‘toilet face’ is my new favorite!

By: diana hampo

diana hampo — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 02:00:32 +0000

My husband makes our family say ‘gutcha’ pardon my spelling. It’s one of the Hungarian words for underwear. Nobody in the family smiles when they say the word but we all laugh.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:58:06 +0000

In Korea, they say “kimchi” instead of cheese. It produces that long ‘e’ smile.

By: Nikki

Nikki — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:39:54 +0000

Yeah didn’t really hit why the word “cheese” was used but it’s because saying cheese gives you a great smile on your face. But why “cheese” was picked I’d still like to know. My 3 and 4 year old say toilet face and still have nice smiley pics!

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 22:01:08 +0000

Interesting article

By: kim

kim — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 19:33:33 +0000

Steve is right, it would have been incredibly difficult to hold a smile for such a long time.Also,I’m pretty sure that quite a few individuals back then suffered from blackened or rotten teeth brought on by the mercury they mistakenly used to treat Syphilis,or by other cause of tooth decay, and since a blackened smile could be a mark of sexual promiscuity or such, I,m sure people would have been reluctant to smile. Around 1900 they stoped using mercury as a cure for Syphilis. Maybe there is a connection there, too…

By: susan k.

susan k. — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 23:47:55 +0000

This whole bit about not smiling being the style is rubbish. When photographic portraits were first taken, the subject’s head had to be held in a clamp so that it did not move – for 4 hours! Try smiling with your head clamped into one position for that long.