Third bank: antimodern symptoms in la Plata river

Abstract

From the perspective of historical construction of the smile, this text aims to question the different meanings of smiling representations in portraits (in painting and photography), tracing how from hidden and discreet smiles gradually became more and more present. At the same time, the expansion of dental care has transformed beauty standards (including smiles showing clean, aligned white teeth) that added to the dissemination of new sensitivities, practices and behaviors that stress the (almost obsessive) need to be always happy and smiling. To this should be added a commitment to take photos with smiles, which is easily done using digital and cameras and cell phones and quickly shared on social media (thousands of selfies).

eywords: smile; portrait; photography.