Quote Originally Posted by Боб Уайтман View Post
If I had not known who you are, I would think it is a photo of a Russian girl

Actually, I find it more comfortable to communicate with a person whose facial expression reflects their real feelings (so that I can understand the emotions, which I find very important for mutual understanding), rather with a someone with a permanent smiling mask on.
In America, if you are not smiling, some people will actually tell you "SMILE!"
It annoys me, but that's just the culture here. I don't always understand it really.
As for that photo, I was specifically told not to smile when they took it. It was the procedure of the time for all official Soviet photos.
Interestingly, in the US, some states are starting to ask people not to smile when they take drivers' license photos, etc.