by Rolando Gomez
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A smile is the most important human element of a photograph when working with people. Smiles are extremely important when producing portraits, especially showing teeth to form a perfect smile. However, with glamour photography, a smile takes a whole new role--the teeth are not the most important part of the smile.
In glamour photography, a smile doesn't come from the teeth, it comes from the corner of the eyes and mouth in direct harmony with each other. The eyes, in conjunction with the facial expression of the lips, makes the photograph smile, and invokes reaction from the viewer. Proof of this concept is found in the great painting of the Mona Lisa, also known as "La Gioconda."
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Find a copy of the Mona Lisa, cover the bottom half up, then walk left of its center 90 degrees then right of its center 90 degrees while looking at her eyes. Do the eyes follow your eyes mysteriously? Now try this with one of your glamour photographs. Does the model's eyes follow you? It should, and keep in mind, it doesn't matter if the model is looking to the left or the right. Do you see the smile in the model's eyes when the lips are covered?
Photographers, like painters, are artists. Leornardo painted the Mona Lisa hundreds of years ago, yet "he knew how we use our eyes," leaving something for the viewer to think about, thus invoking emotions. The power of an image, comes from the emotions it creates.
This should be a photographers goal when viewing the model through a lens, a harmonious relationship of the eyes and lips. In great glamour photography, the model's lips do not smile without the eyes.
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The charismatic qualities of a model comes out in photographs using this technique, and photographers achieving this harmony will succeed in glamour photography. Photographers shouldn't preoccupy themselves with a model's clothes, or what part of her body is showing or not showing, until a photographer has learned to create a smile properly.
A smile only happens for a second; photographers must master their shooting skills to release the shutter at that point in time. Learning how to create smiles, teeth or no teeth, takes practice, but eventually a photographer can master this without even thinking.
©2004 Rolando Gomez
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