Why is it, when viewing snapshots taken at gatherings, I almost always see a photo of someone who turns their head sideways when the camera is pointed at them? You know, that ear to shoulder pose. What causes people to do this?
It would be helpful if you linked to a sample picture, because I for one have no idea what you are talking about. I just went through a few dozen photos of people I have taken and nobody ever tilted their head to pose for the shot. This is what I am assuming you mean, because I can’t think of any turned head pose that would be unnatural (barring an exorcism) – you either turn to the camera, but not necessarily with your entire body, or you don’t.
I think the OP is referring to a group of standing people all turning their heads to look out at the camera over whichever shoulder.
It’s done to pack more people into the frame - there’s nothing particularly flattering about the pose, but it takes advantage of most people being about half as thick front to back as they are shoulder to shoulder.
Yeah, tilt. Like this random photo I came across on the internet. TILT
Because it’s what puppies and small children do to be cute. Why is that? I have no idea. I could form some vague pseudo-Jungian analysis about baring the neck as a sign of harmlessness and trust which we find endearing, but I’d be pulling it straight out my gluteal region. Still, I do the head tilt without even thinking about it.
Sadly, headtilt.com, a website devoted to the head tilt as utilized by actor James Marsters, Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, seems to be defunct. It was an awesome [del]sight[/del] site.
I think the OP is referring to someone who turns their head because they’re not paying attention, or are distracted by something, or are talking to the person next to them. Also, some people think thay don’t look their best from straight on; maybe they don’t like the shape of their face or they’re not symmetrical, or whatever.
Or:
In my old 5th grade class picture, everyone is standing or sitting, looking straight into the camera . . . except me. My whole body is turned 45 degrees, and I’m gazing off into the wild blue yonder. The reason was that I had recently been the the art museum, and was fascinated by portraits that had a “3/4 pose,” rather than a frontal pose. So I thought it would be cool to pose this way in my class picture. Actually, it made me look like an idiot.
Ah, not what I was thinking…
Looks like she’s saying “I have severe torticollis, but I don’t let it ruin my life!”
Is this common? It doesn’t look unnatural to me, but that’s because I’m used to people doing that in real life to be cute or sarcastic. I don’t think I ever remember seeing anybody do this as a camera pose.
Yep, somewhere they’ve been trained that it’s cute.