The art director has a choice to accept or reject photos as they see fit. The art director can select a photographer by style, and ask the photographer to take

The art director has a choice to accept or reject photos as they see fit. The art director can select a photographer by style, and ask the photographer to take pictures of any variety. The photographer will direct the subjects to elicit fitting behavior for the shoot, even if mugging for the camera seems dishonest, a professional photographer will try to coax exagurated behavior from non-professional subjects. That they are all aligned in the same style would indicate an editor's intent. The desire to convey a premise. Perhaps: serious facial expressions for a serious subject. The kids wore appropriate clothes. The kids were posed. Had they blinked or crossed their eyes for any of the shots, more pictures would have been taken until a professional shot had been captured. It's not unheard of for an editor to reject an entire photoshoot if it distracts from the content. They'll spend the money to get it done right, if it doesn't work. If the subjects were all giving the middle finger, because it was normal in Iceland, do you really think that would have landed in the article?