Just look how happy they are!

An enquiry into the portrayal of subjective well-being

Abstract

This talk is to demonstrate the relationship between the dominant Western discourse around
subjective well-being and the depiction of this concept within the semiotic resource of stock
photography. The considerations will be based on the results of an analysis of 100 most
popular, i.e., most relevant, images extracted from one of the biggest online banks of imagery
and provided by its search engine under the entry happiness. Contrasted with an extensive
research on the matter within the field of psychology, the results reveal not only what content
is (presumed or even designed to be) perceived as representative of happiness, but also how
restricted this perception is. Looking into what is excluded from the pictures, the portrayal of
happiness in stock photography appears to be merely a subjective impression. Through the
distinct choices of particular items as depictive of the concept, stock photographs conform to
social expectations concerning the visual representation of happiness and contribute to
maintaining ideological domination of prevailing, public sentiments towards subjective well-
being. This practice takes place at all the stages of the meaning-making process: the
production, perception, interpretation and social internalisation of the units of discourse
included in the images under discussion.