Why Do Photographers Ask People to Say Cheese?

Saying cheese during a photograph has very little to do with the food. The word mechanically arranges the mouth into something resembling a smile.

The long vowel sound encourages the lips to spread, while the final sound raises the cheeks and exposes the teeth. A photographer can therefore give an entire group one short instruction and produce roughly similar expressions at the same moment.

One of the earliest known printed explanations appeared in the Big Spring Daily Herald in Texas in 1943. The newspaper reported that Joseph E Davies, a former American ambassador, had offered cheese as a formula for looking pleasant in a photograph. Davies said he had learned the trick from a politician but did not reveal the person’s identity.

The expression represented a change in photographic culture. During much of the nineteenth century, portraits usually showed controlled, serious faces. Long exposure times played a role in early photography, but convention mattered too. A small, composed mouth was associated with dignity, while a broad toothy smile could appear informal or foolish.

By the twentieth century, portable cameras and personal snapshots had made photography more casual. Advertisements encouraged people to record vacations, parties, and happy family moments. Smiling became part of what a photograph was expected to preserve.

Other languages use different mouth shaping words. Japanese speakers may say chiizu, while speakers elsewhere use words meaning eggplant, cabbage, whiskey, or another convenient sound.

Cheese succeeded because it is short, familiar, and easy to coordinate. The photographer is not asking people to think about happiness. The word temporarily builds the visible shape associated with it.