Camus head:
A mischievous look on Camus face, in fact it is multi-expression, all his face is taking place in the act of the smile (especially the lovely dimples), when he is smiling, his mouth is closed and the eyes are very narrow. Now, an open smiling mouth is an extrovert act, (on the way it could become a laugh). Smiling and closed lips show a kind of restraint, holding it in, it is a kind of inverted smile, an inner smile, keeping it to himself, as if he has a kind of a secret. It could also show a bashful nature. This can show someone that is hiding something or is apprehensive about the situation. All in all, this is between him and him; he is smiling to himself not to his friend, but on the whole he is very amused by something.
Now, his eyes are very narrow, in body language theory, there are roughly two states of the eyes to be in, while smiling; open or narrow. Now the more open the eyes – the more false and dishonest the smile is, while a real smile, that comes from the heart, closes the eyes from the pressure of the facial muscles, usually, it is accompanied by small lines coming out from the sides of the eyes, called: laugh line.
Gallimard’s head:
Almost everything is open in this face; the eyes, the mouth, showing openness and being open to what is going on, and yet, his face is soft and relaxed, opposite to the very active face of his friend. Despite the relaxed face, his open mouth seems as though he wants to say something, very different from the closed, introverted mouth of Camus.
Angles of posture:
Their posture is not towards each other, but straight to the camera, they are so relaxed in their posture that just seating next to each other very very closely – gives them the feeling of intimacy, yet, each one has individuality by himself, for they are so intimate that they don’t even need to turn towards each other.
Their hands:
There is the greatest difference between the hands position of both; Gallimard continue to be relaxed, by leaning his both elbows on the table, but what is interesting is the barrier that his both hands are putting in front of him, it is a metaphor of a front, of a wall; something blocking, this gives the impression of a person who might be in a need for some self-protection, despite the friendly atmosphere.
Now to Camus hands: they are completely extroverted and in full action, contrary to the closed hands of his friend, different nature all together. One hand is hugging loosely his friend’s shoulder, in an act of casual friendliness. His other hand seems as though not to belong to the scene – he is touching softly his chin with his index finger, this is the philosopher in him which is doing that, it is a gesture of thoughtfulness.
Conclusion:
Despite their great intimacy, they are different personalities, but this doesn’t disturb them from being so close.
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Gabriel Raam
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12.9.20
Gabriel