The term "smize" was popularized by Tyra Banks on America's Next Top Model to describe a technique where models project confidence and emotion through their eyes while keeping their mouth still. Smizing helps create striking, authentic-looking images without relying on exaggerated expressions, making it valuable for portrait, editorial, and commercial photography. Understanding how to engage the eyes, control facial tension, and align body language allows photographers and subjects to communicate intention, warmth, or power with precision.
What a Smize Is and Why It Matters
At its core, a smize combines "smile" and "eyes" to focus expression through the gaze rather than the mouth. In fashion and lifestyle photography, the eyes often communicate more than the lips, especially in close crops and headshots where subtle emotion reads clearly. For print and runway training, smizing helps models maintain camera-ready energy during long hours, reduces the need for constant retakes, and supports a varied shot set within a single look. For everyday portraits, it offers a way to convey sincerity, charisma, and presence without appearing forced or over-the-top.
Origins of the Smize in Modeling Culture
Tyra Banks introduced the smize as a signature coaching tool on America's Next Top Model, emphasizing that modeling is a performance requiring emotional availability through the lens. She taught contestants to connect with the camera by imagining a scene or memory that evokes feeling, then letting that feeling show in the eyes while the rest of the face stayed calm. This approach distinguished professional imagery from casual snapshots by highlighting intention, discipline, and presence, and it became a widely referenced concept in modeling education, workshops, and industry vocabulary.
The Look of a Genuine Smize
A credible smize appears in the crinkling at the outer corners of the eyes, a slight lowering or widening of the brows, and relaxed but focused eyelids, while the mouth remains soft or neutral. It is most effective when the subject's breathing is steady and the shoulders are open, allowing the expression to read as natural rather than posed. When done with subtlety, a smize can shift a portrait from generic to emotionally resonant, making it a lasting technique rather than a fleeting trend.
Practical Steps to Achieve a Real Smize
- Start with neutral, comfortable mouth positioning to avoid stiffness.
- Recall a specific memory or scenario that evokes the emotion you want to convey, such as joy, warmth, determination, or quiet confidence.
- Let the feeling move to the eyes, watching for subtle creasing and brightness without squinting.
- Check alignment by ensuring your eyebrows, head tilt, and body language support the intended message.
- Practice in short intervals in front of a mirror, then test under natural and artificial light to refine the expression.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Overdone brow movements, tense foreheads, and mismatched mouth shapes can make a smize appear exaggerated or inauthentic. To prevent this, begin with minimal adjustments and increase expression gradually, focusing primarily on the eyes rather than the whole face. Using a mirror or camera to review results helps identify when the emotion looks genuine and when it feels forced. Coordinating breath, relaxed jaw, and softened cheekbones further supports a clean, convincing smize across different angles and lighting setups.
Application Beyond Fashion and Modeling
While smizing is iconic in modeling, it is equally useful in corporate headshots, personal branding photography, and video conferencing, where presence and credibility matter. Learning to access a genuine emotional state behind the gaze improves on-camera confidence in interviews, client meetings, and public appearances. Photographers can also guide subjects to smize by referencing scenes, textures, or sensations rather than asking them to "smile," which often yields more nuanced and versatile imagery.