Early photographs of people actually smiling!

I've noticed that looking back in the early days of photography, people being photographed rarely smiled. They usually looked very stern or angry. Were they just not happy? Uncomfortable from sitting so long? Intimidated by the camera? I just don't know. Anyways, here is a link to 18 early photos where the subjects are actually smiling!


18 Photos Of Victorians Smiling

The long exposures necessary back then were too long to hold a smile. It was originally maybe 15 minutes, and even later maybe 15 seconds, just too long. Different processes, it wasn't film then.

I think it's got a lot to do with the mentality of the people - their attitudes had changed a great deal, since, say, the end of a 19th century. In the old days, people were raised with the notion of dignity and "reservation", as opposed to being kinda "relaxed" and "casual". If you take a closer look to the portraits (canvases) made by the Medieval painters, you will rarely encounter a smiling face. And you wont find ANY on the sculptures and paintings made by the Ancient Greeks or Romans - the act of smiling, and the humor in general, were regarded as something closely related to "low life". Thus, self-conscious people insisted on being displayed as such (dignified, stern, imposing) on canvases (then) and, later, on the photos... Now, since we live in the age of mass-media & modern democracy, those notions practically got eradicated - today's politicians, actors, entertainers etc. are greeting us with huge smiles on their faces, nobody regards the comedy as a proscribed genre anymore, etc. etc.

Smiling too much, back in the day, was considered evidence you might not be too bright in yer noggin; possibly even a little "touched". Ever hear the expression "Grinning like an idiot"?

There were appropriate times for laughter and smiling but it was not generally considered attractive like it is in modern society. That being the case, people did not smile in photos back then because no one wanted to look foolish, or be thought an idiot, based on their photo.

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I'm skeptical of the authenticity of some of them. In a time when exposures were on the order of a few seconds, at least, how is the ocean not blurred in #7? How did anyone get the dog in #11 to hold that pose long enough? How about the guy standing on one foot in #6?

I think that at least some of these are fakes—much newer picture than we are meant to believe, crafted to look like they are much older.

No.7 would have been positively pornographic in those days