I did all my best to smile

This artistic-scientific research explores the role of perception, interpretation, and expectation in contemporary portrait photography, with a particular focus on the smiling portrait. By combining insights from neuroscience (predictive processing theory ) and philosophy with photographic experiments, the research challenges the apparent transparency and legibility of facial expressions (in particular) and photography (in general).

Contrary to traditional views that directly link a smile to happiness, this study argues that meaning is a dynamic and contextually determined construct.

The project contributes to the theoretical development of predictive processing within an artistic context, while at the same time casting a critical light on cultural conventions, emotion recognition technologies (such as FER), and visual representation in the digital age. The smiling portrait is not treated as a subject, but as a tool to explore broader questions about meaning, context, and visual perception.

This doctoral research was made possible by KU Leuven and LUCA School of Arts under the supervision of Prof. Maarten Coëgnarts, Dr. Sander Van de Cruys, Prof. Leen Engelen, and Prof. Hans Maes.

The Rules

1. The environment is sacred.
The photograph must be taken in the sitter’s own (chosen) environment. No changes to furniture, lighting, or arrangement may be made by the photographer. The setting, in all its specificity, is part of the portrait’s truth.

2. The sitter is the director.
Apart from the instruction to smile, all decisions regarding location, clothing, posture, and the inclusion of objects rest entirely with the sitter. Every sitter — regardless of age, background, gender, or culture — participates as an equal co-author of the image.

3. Light shall bear witness, not create illusion.
Only one flash (portable, direct or bounced) may be used. Continuous lights, studio setups, or additional modifiers are forbidden. Natural and ambient light may coexist with flash, but never be altered. Light records; it does not perform.

4. The frame is not a stage.
No props shall be introduced by the photographer. Nothing may be removed from or added to the scene. The photograph must arise from what is already there.

5. No retouching, no manipulation.
Post-production shall be limited to minimal technical adjustments (exposure, white balance, cropping). The image’s content must remain untouched. Photography’s evidential quality is to be preserved.

6. Authenticity precedes aesthetics.
Composition, pose, and expression shall not be directed, corrected, or rehearsed. The photographer must not suggest how the sitter should appear, beyond asking them to smile. The photograph values being over beauty.

7. Each portrait is singular.
Re-shoots or staged repetitions are not allowed. The portrait captures a moment of encounter — unrepeatable, situated, and contingent.

8. The photographer is present, but silent.
Interaction is limited to establishing consent, explaining the premise, and asking for the smile. All other communication must respect the sitter’s autonomy, dignity, and individuality.

9. Technology is transparent.
The use of high-resolution digital equipment is permitted solely as a recording tool, not as a means of aestheticization. The camera is an instrument of observation, not invention. The process must remain close to the material and temporal reality of photography itself.

10. The portrait is an experiment.
Each image serves as an open question about perception and meaning — not as a statement about identity, status, or emotion. Every sitter is invited, every viewer implicated.

11. Inclusivity is essential.
This series welcomes all faces and stories. Diversity in age, gender, ethnicity, ability, and background is not incidental but constitutive of the work. The project resists the normative gaze by embracing plural perspectives.

12. Photography remains the medium.
No generative tools, compositing, or digital simulations are permitted. The photograph is a trace of light, time, and encounter — an exploration of what photography alone can still reveal.

13. The title is not the portrait, the portrait is the title.
The title shall be determined by the photographer according to what is most salient for him at the time of selection; it shall be rendered in the sitters’ language.

Guidelines for sitters

The premise of the photo session is deliberately simple: in the photograph you smile. This is the only instruction I impose as photographer.

For all other aspects, you are entirely the director of your own portrait. I invite you to reflect briefly in advance, so that your choices can be consciously inscribed in the image. You determine, among other things:

• The location within your home where the photograph will be taken.

• The inclusion of objects: you may bring in items that hold personal meaning for you, or choose not to use any.

• Your clothing: whether everyday, formal, festive, or unexpected.

• Your posture or pose: relaxed, static, expressive, or theatrical — entirely up to you.

My role is limited to recording the moment you have created. The smile is the only constant element across the series, while all other parameters reflect your personal choices.

In this way, each portrait simultaneously embodies your individuality and contributes to a broader investigation into the dynamic processes of meaning-making in photography