Random Thoughts of a Neophyte in Beijing: Say Eggplant

So I am not sure where the habit of asking people to say cheese started in the U.S. to make people smile for photos. I am sure it was some frustrated photographer who had to shoot some stiff businessman and the art director said we really need a photo of him smiling. The businessman probably never smiled in his life. I can see the photographer trying everything. Witty repartee, talking about his kids, funny stories and nothing worked. Then it came to him! Have him say cheese! That will make the corners of his grouchy mouth go up! Genius! I can see that passing on though the network of photographers. Spreading like wildfire. The miracle for getting people to smile! Well there may be a different story but that’s the one that sounds good in my imagination.

I read a book years ago about Russian photographers which when translated into English was titled Cheesers. It got that title not because of a literal translation but because it is from a word that they say to make people smile because saying the word makes your lips go up at the ends. Unfortunately I have forgotten the word and when I have tried to look it up it comes in Cyrillic, which I have even more trouble trying to read than Mandarin characters. Anyway the book was a fascinating account of Russian photographers who formed a society that they called Cheesers. They found ways to document life in Russia and sneak photos out past the censors to show the world true Russian life instead of what the Kremlin wanted people to see.

I started to wonder what photographers in other countries say to make people smile so I got on the trusty internet and found a thread on WordReference.com here area a few responses from random countries.

Catelan - Louis pronounced loo ees

Czech -there is a Czech phrase "Vyletí ptáček!" (or "Pozor, vyletí ptáček").

It means "(attention,) a birdie will fly out". But it is usually used for attracting the attention of little children and they usually do not smile.

Buenos Aires -Digan Whiskeeeeey!

Brazil -They mostly say Xis (pronounced shees), which is how we pronounce the letter x in Portuguese

France -the most common is "ouistiti !" which means marmoset

Bulgarian- зеле (zele) - literally "cabbage".

We also generally say: 'Look at the birdie' (Kijk naar het vogeltje), but do not make them pronounce any words. (We know that does not help ;-)

(I do use a trick like the Turks, counting 1-2-3 and then going on, jumping to irregular numbers. That always helps produce a very natural smile...)

Turkish -we go for: 333 which is pronounced: üç yüz otuz üç!

The Estonian version makes absolutely no sense at all. We say "Hernesupp!", which just means "Pea soup!"

So I bet you are wondering what they say in China. Well they use “Say Eggplant!” Eggplant is not only a tasty meal here but it is handy for making people smile. 茄子 pronounced roughly like Chiezuh. Some of the younger Chinese just say cheese. As a photographer I don’t always want people to smile for portraits but it is handy to know what to say to get that smile if you need it. Usually though all I have to do is try to speak Mandarin and not only do I get a smile but often a big laugh. I never realized I was so funny in China….Wait, they are laughing with me right not at me??

One photographer who has photographed more smiles than probably anyone in China is Wang Wenlan. He is a revered and maybe the most well-known newspaper photographer in China. He has spent most of his life documenting life in houtongs and the ubiquitous Bejing bicycle. He has published several books and seems to be one of the happiest men I have met. He is always smiling. You can tell he loves his job. He is sought after by camera makers to test out their new cameras. He invited me to his home for an end of spring festival lunch with some of his friends. He is a gracious host and carries himself with an aire of dignity and experience. I hope to learn from his work while I am here but so much of what he has photographed has all but disappeared which makes his photographs an even more important record of China’s ever changing landscape.

All photos © Michael Paul Franklin.