How quicky ten years passes! In preparation for my winter travels I've just had to renew my passport.
Following the strict criteria laid down for the passport photo, I made sure I wasn't smiling - adopting the 'natural position.' How different this made me look! When the print was spat out at me from the booth, It seemed like a stranger staring back at me. To me, it looked as though I was consciously frowning.
Being a smiley person, people more often see me with my lips turned up at the ends rather than dropped expressionlessly. Then again, after a twelve hour flight, perhaps the 'moody me' in my passport is more representative. Of course I completely understand that for purposes of recognition there needs to be some standardisation of passport photos but I am also curious about the exact scientific evidence that the no smiling rule is based on. I've always found a person's natural smile to be unique, although I know some people seem to struggle to smile naturally on cue.
I'd be interested to know what your experiences of smiling when travelling are. Do you generally get a better response from people when you smile, even when language differences may be a barrier? Have you experienced a culture where smiling gets you odd looks or even into trouble?
