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Your photo with unsmiling relatives reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask. The first time I applied for a Russian visa, my photo was rejected for s

Your photo with unsmiling relatives reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask. The first time I applied for a Russian visa, my photo was rejected for smiling. My second Putin-serious photo was accepted just fine. What's the story with smiling? Do Americans come across as goofy there for smiling too much? (off topic, I know, but potentially useful)

jbob2000 8y ago
You aren't allowed to smile for passports either. I had to retake mine for my Canadian passport a few years ago because I put on a huge smile :D. Most people don't walk around with a giant grin on their face. A picture of a resting face is more accurate than one that you pose and contort your face for.
gk1 8y ago
Oh that's funny, I didn't even notice that... "Guess who's the goofy American in this photo!" Passport photos aside (which really do require a neutral face, even in the US), Russians do not smile in public or to strangers the way we do in the US. Smiling in public is seen as a sign of foolishness or low intelligence. When Americans come to Russia they interpret the lack of smiles as hostility, which isn't true.
- paulsutter 8y ago
  Thanks for explaining, I've wondered that. By the way, smiling is OK on US passports[1]. I've taken a lot of visa and passport photos, and I have seen a requirement not to show teeth. But I've only once had a photo returned. And I really wasn't grinning in the photo. Incidentally, that slighty-more-serious mood in Russia feels comfortable for me. Maybe because I tend to smile less than I "should" in the US. [1] From https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/requirements/photos.html https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/require... "You must have a neutral facial expression or a natural smile, with both eyes open"
varjag 8y ago
A smile is perceived as sign of weakness. Smiling to sellers, taxi drivers and others in service sector greatly increases the likelihood you'd be taken advantage of. Smiling to law enforcement (except border guards who are used to it) can attract unnecessary attention.
- Cadabrum 8y ago
  That is not true. In western countries one must smile to be polite, even if the smile doesn't represent his/her current mood. There is no objective reason to render happines in common situation for Russian people. One may smile when he meets a friend or sees some cute kitten, but in general people are walking in some meditation alike state, thinking about the current affairs and not particularly paying attention to the people they passing by. And when russian person meets the grinning stranger with cold eyes (not his real mood). It looks kind of creepy. Ordinary people usually do not pay much attention for this kind of encounters. Police (are you drunk?) and street scammers(are you a tourist?) - do.
  - varjag 8y ago
    It has little to do with meditation, it's an ever present tension imposed by simmering-hostile environment that most Russians live in. In the same vein it's a common Russian misconception that Westerners always fake their smiles. They are often genuinely more friendly and chill. And yes, if you smile too much you are taken for лох, even if you are native. Get to an urban market some day and smile to sellers, посчитай на сколько обуют.
- nasredin 8y ago
  IME it's not weakness. People just don't smile without a reason. And meeting or talking to a stranger is not a proper reason. >>The virile ruler, the vodka, the endless mounds of sour cream—they are pleasing to some. It’s just that grinning without cause is not a skill Russians possess or feel compelled to cultivate. There’s even a Russian proverb that translates, roughly, to “laughing for no reason is a sign of stupidity"
  - 8y ago

jbob2000 8y ago

You aren't allowed to smile for passports either. I had to retake mine for my Canadian passport a few years ago because I put on a huge smile :D. Most people don't walk around with a giant grin on their face. A picture of a resting face is more accurate than one that you pose and contort your face for.

gk1 8y ago

Oh that's funny, I didn't even notice that... "Guess who's the goofy American in this photo!" Passport photos aside (which really do require a neutral face, even in the US), Russians do not smile in public or to strangers the way we do in the US. Smiling in public is seen as a sign of foolishness or low intelligence. When Americans come to Russia they interpret the lack of smiles as hostility, which isn't true.

paulsutter 8y ago
Thanks for explaining, I've wondered that. By the way, smiling is OK on US passports[1]. I've taken a lot of visa and passport photos, and I have seen a requirement not to show teeth. But I've only once had a photo returned. And I really wasn't grinning in the photo. Incidentally, that slighty-more-serious mood in Russia feels comfortable for me. Maybe because I tend to smile less than I "should" in the US. [1] From https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/requirements/photos.html https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/require... "You must have a neutral facial expression or a natural smile, with both eyes open"

varjag 8y ago

A smile is perceived as sign of weakness. Smiling to sellers, taxi drivers and others in service sector greatly increases the likelihood you'd be taken advantage of. Smiling to law enforcement (except border guards who are used to it) can attract unnecessary attention.

Cadabrum 8y ago
That is not true. In western countries one must smile to be polite, even if the smile doesn't represent his/her current mood. There is no objective reason to render happines in common situation for Russian people. One may smile when he meets a friend or sees some cute kitten, but in general people are walking in some meditation alike state, thinking about the current affairs and not particularly paying attention to the people they passing by. And when russian person meets the grinning stranger with cold eyes (not his real mood). It looks kind of creepy. Ordinary people usually do not pay much attention for this kind of encounters. Police (are you drunk?) and street scammers(are you a tourist?) - do.
- varjag 8y ago
  It has little to do with meditation, it's an ever present tension imposed by simmering-hostile environment that most Russians live in. In the same vein it's a common Russian misconception that Westerners always fake their smiles. They are often genuinely more friendly and chill. And yes, if you smile too much you are taken for лох, even if you are native. Get to an urban market some day and smile to sellers, посчитай на сколько обуют.
nasredin 8y ago
IME it's not weakness. People just don't smile without a reason. And meeting or talking to a stranger is not a proper reason. >>The virile ruler, the vodka, the endless mounds of sour cream—they are pleasing to some. It’s just that grinning without cause is not a skill Russians possess or feel compelled to cultivate. There’s even a Russian proverb that translates, roughly, to “laughing for no reason is a sign of stupidity"
- 8y ago