Spot on. One should also keep in mind that when photography was something new and rare people also took it very seriously and didn't smile in the 'western' worl

Spot on. One should also keep in mind that when photography was something new and rare people also took it very seriously and didn't smile in the 'western' world. If you only get relatively few number of pictures taken over the course of your life you want to leave a respectable impression for the future generations. I'm not sure about how wide-spread and available photography is in NK but that might also have to do with this.