Smell Like You Mean It
Beth Parker -
When I saw (the aptly named) Brooke Light's haunting images of people (and often young girls and women who might be frequently told to do so) not smiling or laughing, they stopped me in my tracks. Here were young and radiant women with the very distinctive absence of a smile, accurately defined in her tagline “I’ll smile if I want to”. Portrait photography is something everyone is familiar with, but it’s nice when you stumble upon an artist who is doing things a little differently, and creating a specific niche – in this case, it’s by letting people actively choose whether or not they want to smile for a photo, something we don’t usually give tons of consideration to when having our photo taken. I asked Brooke more about her process and her unique take on modern photography.
BP: How did you come up with such a unique way of photographing people?
BL: I’ve always been drawn creatively to editorial style portrait photography but the average person never gets to experience that. So when I wanted to do a fun photoshoot with my niece [and then] I told her she didn’t [actually] have to smile. What she gave me was stunning. This quiet little girl was serving looks and just taking up this confident space I didn’t know she was capable of. My gut was screaming at me that there was something here. I never in my wildest dreams thought the concept of letting kids smile if they want to would resonate so much but I’m so thankful I followed that nudge.
What happens when you give your subjects a choice of whether or not to smile?
Above all else, they relax. I’ve seen it hundreds of times. I don’t think we stop enough to consider how much photography has enhanced the underlying pressure to perform when we are being perceived. So when you take away that expectation on people it allows them to just exist. Sometimes they are joyous, silly, giggly but sometimes they aren’t. Taking away that expectation gives people permission to connect with themselves first, not just with the camera.
Usually photographers get their subjects to laugh or smile to feel more relaxed. How do you put yours at ease, then?
This is a topic I am VERY passionate about. I believe in the people side of this business. Instead of trying to “lighten the mood” with an over the top personality or trying to perform a stand up comedy routine for them, I just try to meet them where they are. People deserve to be there and be photographed authentically. So you may watch my photoshoot and think this is just a chill hang out but I’m actually very intentional about the verbal and non-verbal choices I make to help my clients relax. It’s in the details for sure.
Why do you think people are societally always told to smile when having a photo taken?
Well it wasn’t always the standard due to the mechanics of old photography but I do think societal changes made it the standard. Smiles equate emotions of happiness, joy, excitement, amusement. Even before the internet and social media, photos were memories and I think that inherently evolved into their own version of a [expectedly joyful] highlight reel. Now I think it’s just so ingrained into our culture that if you want to “look your best” you have to have the happiness factor such as smiling.
What are three words that describe your work?
Confident. Relatable. Empowering.
How do you think your portraits of women and young people in particular can be empowering to them?
It’s about being seen without performance. When someone experiences not having to do that in a situation they normally do, they often realize how much that “performance” is a part of how they show up in the world. Especially for women and young people, it can easily become the default setting to consider what version of myself do the people around me want vs. what version of myself do I want to be.
What other kinds of emotions are you able to capture when people don't smile? What do we replace a smile with?
I don’t really view it as “replacing” it with anything. I just want to SEE people. Models get to experience an editorial style of portrait photography all the time but your average person doesn’t. So when you strip away the social obligation of big beautiful smiles you can start to see the more subtle emotions/traits. They become very loud in their subtleties actually. You might see quiet confidence, sass, humor, nervousness, cockyness, reservation. The face becomes more about expression than expectation. I don’t think people realize just how communicative the face can be about the person behind the smile.
Do people sometimes still like to smile or laugh anyway?
All the time! My work has never been an anti-smile movement. It’s more of an experience in choice. I don’t care whether you are 10 or 60, that feels good. It’s a moment where they forget what we are doing and laughter/smiles often happen then. The difference is that it’s theirs, not a reflex I’ve coached into them.
What have you discovered about what a smile can mean in our culture – what is the meaning of a smile?
A smile can mean all forms of joy, but it can also be a mask, a habit, or a survival tactic. That’s why it’s so interesting to take it off autopilot. When a smile shows up in my work, it’s because the person chose it and that makes it significantly more meaningful. It becomes something you can really feel.