Smiley Faces Found in Unlikely Places
In her work running a day care, Ruth Kaiser is surrounded by smiling faces - and not just on the children.
She calls them "Spontaneous Smileys" - things that just happen to look like they're grinning.
"They're just everywhere," she said.
She began photographing them a couple of years ago and her collection grows almost daily.
Spontaneous Smiley's Website
Operation Smile
She is never without her camera because a smiley can turn up in the most unlikely of places.
Two bolts and a crack in a wooden beam, looked at just the right way, become another Spontaneous Smiley.
In Ruth's happy world, her shoes smile back and even a trash can returns a grin.
So in February she launched a websitewhere anyone can contribute their smiling discoveries.
She's using the smiles to raise money for a group that repairs facial deformities in children.Her works are on sale in small gallery. And in a recent ad American Expresshas discovered smiley's.
"You stumble on one, and then you have a moment of 'aha,'" Kaiser said.
But Ruth does have one frustration. For years she's looked at the Golden Gate Bridge and seen a big grin there but never been able to find the eyes. So maybe we can put a smile on her face with this: two "CBS eyes" over the bridge.
