{"id":237777,"date":"2023-01-05T16:00:03","date_gmt":"2023-01-05T16:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.factstoryhub.com\/?p=237777"},"modified":"2025-02-20T12:59:26","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T12:59:26","slug":"why-nobody-smiles-old-photos","status":"publish","type":[],"link":"https:\/\/www.factstoryhub.com\/why-nobody-smiles-old-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"The Reasons Why Nobody Smiled in Old Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"
Looking at portrait photos from the past, you may notice a common trend.\n
The first portrait photographs often depict adults and children looking serious and not smiling.\n
This can even be seen in photos of weddings and celebrations where you expect happiness and joy.\n
You will mostly notice this in portraits taken in the late 18th century and throughout the 19th century.\n
But why did people not smile in front of the camera? There are many theories and thoughts about why people lack expressions of joy in photos.\n
In this article, we will look at the history of photography and the traditions around portraiture.\n
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One of the most common reasons is that photos used to take a long time to expose. The first cameras were not as instant as taking a photo on your phone today.\n
Photos took time to expose, meaning the subject had to sit still for a long time.\n
On average, the first cameras took around 20 minutes to take a photo. The subject needed to stay as still as possible to get the highest quality photo.\n
The movement would cause the photo to blur and the subject to be out of focus.\n
Therefore, sitting with a relaxed face rather than holding a smile for 20 minutes was easier.\n
But this wasn’t the only factor as camera quality increased over the years and, by 1900, had become very advanced for the time. By the 1900s, cameras could take a photo in around 20 seconds.\n
The introduction of the Brownie and other cameras reduced exposure times, meaning that people could hold a smile.\n
They were slow by today’s standards but fast for the time.\n
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There are also ties with the idea of portraits being a special moment to document a person’s existence.\n
Before cameras, this would have been hand-painted, which would have taken hours.\n
The idea of having a portrait done was associated with a special occasion, whether it be to commemorate a birthday, achievement, or celebration.\n
The idea of a portrait was to take time to capture the significant moment. This tradition was passed on even when cameras came into play.\n
It is thought that people of the time carried this mentality of it being a serious and significant moment even when photography was introduced.\n
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Another reason you see people looking serious could be the Victorian tradition of taking photos of the deceased.\n
Cameras made the ability to take photos more accessible and more manageable.\n
In Victorian times, it became increasingly popular to photograph the dead. This is because, unlike today, photos were seen as a way to capture a ‘frozen presentation’ of a person.\n
As opposed to today’s association of photography being used to capture a moment in time.\n