Photo Challenge

Smile

For this week’s challenge, point your camera at something or someone that puts a smile on our face (or just show a smiling face).

Photo of Takashi Murakami's <em>Flowers, flowers, flowers</em>, from 2010.

Photo of Takashi Murakami's Flowers, flowers, flowers, from 2010.

Maybe it’s because I’ve just spent several festive days among old friends and family. Maybe it’s the noticeably longer days here in the upper reaches of the Northern Hemisphere. Either way, I wanted this week’s Photo Challenge to elicit some measure of joy among our loyal Daily Post readers. And what’s a more universal signifier of good cheer than a smile?

Photo of Takashi Murakami’s Flowers, flowers, flowers, from 2010.

These smiling flowers are among the most recognizable creations of Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, whose work I recently viewed at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Murakami’s work is smart, rich, and thought-provoking for those who spend some time with it. But it doesn’t sneer at those who just want to clear their minds with a joyous splash of color — or several hundreds such splashes. I admire artists who manage to effortlessly bridge the gap between the cerebral and the viscerally satisfying, and tried to capture the vibrancy of this work in all its sublime flatness.

This week, show us a smile (yours or someone else’s), make us smile, or both. Share a photo of something that has brought a moment of joy into your life recently, or focus on the outcome of that joy. If you’re not feeling particularly cheerful at the moment — it’s still 2018, after all — no need to fake your way into the challenge, either. Smiles come in all shades and flavors, including the half-hearted, tired, bitter, and resigned (to name a few). So whether the emotions you channel in your photo are full of cheer or not, I can’t wait to see your take on this theme.

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  10. Thanks!
    Thanks for making me smile and for inspiring me to create new smiley artworks by introducing me to this special artist!
    I love leaving smiley post-it’s wherever I go… always recognisable because they’re wearing hats. Now, I’m going to do flower smileys… just don’t know just yet how I’m going to fit hats on all of them!
    😉 🙂 😛 🙂 😉

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  28. Love it. Simple. But, could mean the world to someone else. Plus, you’ll have a much better attitude for the day. Fact: smiling increases the blood flow to the face giving you a much better looking face from a beauty care standpoint. Better than any amount of make up.

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