Throughout winter break, we worked on a project called “Smile”. Our goal for this assignment was to create a collection of 30 photos. This means that we had to gather pictures of 15 different people — one photo of them smiling and another photo of the same person not smiling. After this, we put the two photos side by side to become aware of the fact that we tend to create stereotypes of someone even when we haven’t actually met them. This is especially true when we see a non-smiling face. Though there wasn’t much of a difference between both photos in some cases, the change is usually apparent most instances. For example, a lady is shown smiling on the right hand part of the photo below. Her smile is warm and welcoming, portraying the image that she has a bright, friendly nature. I would gladly approach this lady and start a conversation with her only because her face seems inviting. It causes you to think that she will be happy to talk to you. On the other hand, I would be reluctant and super nervous to go toward the same lady who is not smiling. Truthfully, I would keep my distance because the lady’s straight face reveals that she isn’t interested to talk to you. It is also scary and intimidating to say the least. However, she is still that kind person on the inside. All in all, the point of this project was to reflect on our actions and take away an extremely important lesson. We are all prone to being a little too quick to judge. Assuming something about someone is not right; instead, we should take the time to know the person before supposing that our guesses are true.
