The photo :) by itself examines the various methods that help make positive thinking concrete and material. The ways of manufacturing a smile can be direct and commanding ("Say cheese!"), medical (cosmetic surgery, which literally fixes the smile onto the face), simulated (artificial intelligence), or all three at once.

For about a century, people have been smiling in photos. Before that, it wasn’t the case. But starting in the 1920s–30s, the click of the shutter began to automatically trigger the risorius, the zygomaticus major, and even the buccinator muscles. This conditioned reflex was born in the United States and gradually spread to the rest of the world.

• Elements for an illustrated history of the automated smile
• Stéphane Degoutin and Gwenola Wagon

Find out more on the project page