7 ms·

It's actually nice to see people smiling in these old photos. Something that was absent in posed photos of those days.

fyfy18 9y ago
I was thinking the same. I wonder if he knew them or they are strangers. I grew up in a village and if you saw someone, even if you didn't know them (although you knew most people), you'd say hello, but it's strange to imagine that happening in a city today.
- woodpanel 9y ago
  Looking at the pictures it seems that they were taken exactly in the moment of greeting the photographer (People with their hands on hats...). The way the function of the camera is described, using the gestures of greeting someone may have nicely helped in keeping his camera a secret. Also: Indeed, very nice to see people smiling in that time! I wonder how much the grim-looking portraits we know add to the cliche of hard-ship and sadness we have of earlier times. Then, having to look that way when being portrayed may stemmed from who were the earliest people being portrayed: Saints, Kings and Queens.
  - mikestew 9y ago
    Then, having to look that way when being portrayed may stemmed from who were the earliest people being portrayed: Saints, Kings and Queens. That certainly might have contributed to the lack of smiling, yes. From sources I have long since lost, it is my understanding that portraits were expensive, and photographs were serious business. Add to that the fact of...umm, why do we smile for photographs again? I do it because everyone else does. Build a time machine, and someone from the 1800s is going to ask, "why does everyone in your photographs look like a smiling idiot? Was there a rash of some brain-eating disease in your time?" I've also heard the theory based on exposure times, but by the very late 1800s exposure times had dropped dramatically. Though it could be argued that not smiling was a carry-over from the days of long exposure. Again, though, documentation I've seen simply said, "that's just how it was done". Fashions change, just like we don't wear corsets anymore (well, I don't; but I don't judge), now we smile for pictures.
    - thaumasiotes 9y ago
      > I've also heard the theory based on exposure times, but by the very late 1800s exposure times had dropped dramatically. Though it could be argued that not smiling was a carry-over from the days of long exposure. Again, though, documentation I've seen simply said, "that's just how it was done". Presumably photographic portraits were done in the style of painted portraits.
      - mikestew 9y ago
        Hmm, so maybe it is a result of "exposure time". Dunno about you, but I sure can't keep a smile on my face for a few hours while Leonardo does me in oil. (Err, wait, that didn't come out right...) Despite any documentation, I think it's just a matter of asking for an answer to a negative action. "Why didn't you smile for your photographs back then?" "Same reason we didn't do a handstand: why would we?"
  - daveFNbuck 9y ago
    It was always my understanding that people didn't smile in older photos because it's easier to hold a neutral pose for a long exposure period.
- freeflight 9y ago
  > it's strange to imagine that happening in a city today Sometimes I fantasize about just greeting everybody I come across to add some friendliness to the world, until I realize that most people, in an urban setting, would probably be utterly bewildered and confused by such a behavior. It's sad how urban living seems to have conditioned us to treat every other human as a total stranger from whom we should keep the furthest possible distance, physically and emotionally.
MBCook 9y ago
I believe that looking serious was the fashion of the time for when your portrait was taken.
matte_black 9y ago
In old days, smiling in a photograph would be considered ridiculous. There would be nothing worse than having one’s image forever captured with a goofy toothy looking grin.
- nerfhammer 9y ago
  It's not just the lack of smiling. It's that they were stiff as a board, staring expressionlessly out into space, looking lifeless, taxidermic. The candidness of these photos is interesting because the people look so natural. It's not just the smiling, it's the casual, natural looking poses and expressions, only about half of which are actually smiling. They look actual real life people so to speak.
  - icdedppl 9y ago
    Some of those lifeless-looking people are actually lifeless: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-mortem_photography https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-mortem_photography
    - pluma 9y ago
      It's rarer than pop culture myths would make you think: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/victorian-post-mortem-photographs.amp https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/victorian-post-mortem-...
gshakir 9y ago
Lots of people had bad teeth and they did not want it to show up in the pictures.
- nerfhammer 9y ago
  Photos of this quality weren't sharp enough to make out any detail on any of these people's teeth. I wonder if they assumed that they should try to look as they would for a painted portrait.
dibujante 9y ago
It was because photos required long exposure and it's easier to hold your face in a neutral position. People smiled then as they do now: https://imgur.com/gallery/EYOym https://imgur.com/gallery/EYOym
- hobls 9y ago
  Wait, this is wildly off topic, but can we talk about the snow woman in the sixth picture? What is happening there? Is that a person covered in snow? A really shockingly well crafted sculpture done by two women with shovels? I am so baffled.
  - semtele 9y ago
    It comes from The Strand Magazine, No. 13, from 1892. https://archive.org/details/StrandMagazine13 https://archive.org/details/StrandMagazine13 Scanned PDF has almost 300 MB, but its text description says: The accompanying picture shows what can be done with snow, by those who care to exercise their powers of modelling, and produce something more natural in appearance than the familiar old " Snow Man," built up after the figure of a Lowther Arcade Noah. During a lull in the severe frosts of last winter, two ladies (amateurs, who had never had a lesson in modelling), with the assistance of only a shovel and pair of scissors, erected and modelled the " Snow Lady" in a garden near Pangbourne. No foundation of any kind was used, and no sticks or wires were concealed under the figure for the purpose of supporting head, body, or arms. An enlargement of the original photograph was shown at the Photographic Exhibition during last autumn, and gave rise to many remarks, sage and otherwise. A large number of those who looked at it pronounced it as " No doubt very cleverly got up — but all humbug ! " " Real snow ? Not a bit of it ! Quite impossible ! " I found it via TinEye at https://www.boredpanda.com/a-snow-lady-1892/ https://www.boredpanda.com/a-snow-lady-1892/
tajen 9y ago
And elegant. I’ve always assumed people were overdressed for the picture, and here I notice they actually wore the hat everyday. They dress better than for today’s weddings.
- pacaro 9y ago
  The theory that I’ve heard is that reliable heating lead to the general decline in hat wearing. Not sure what to think. If you look at pictures taken in public places as late as the 1950s then almost everyone is wearing a hat.

I was thinking the same. I wonder if he knew them or they are strangers. I grew up in a village and if you saw someone, even if you didn't know them (although you knew most people), you'd say hello, but it's strange to imagine that happening in a city today.

woodpanel 9y ago
Looking at the pictures it seems that they were taken exactly in the moment of greeting the photographer (People with their hands on hats...). The way the function of the camera is described, using the gestures of greeting someone may have nicely helped in keeping his camera a secret. Also: Indeed, very nice to see people smiling in that time! I wonder how much the grim-looking portraits we know add to the cliche of hard-ship and sadness we have of earlier times. Then, having to look that way when being portrayed may stemmed from who were the earliest people being portrayed: Saints, Kings and Queens.
- mikestew 9y ago
  Then, having to look that way when being portrayed may stemmed from who were the earliest people being portrayed: Saints, Kings and Queens. That certainly might have contributed to the lack of smiling, yes. From sources I have long since lost, it is my understanding that portraits were expensive, and photographs were serious business. Add to that the fact of...umm, why do we smile for photographs again? I do it because everyone else does. Build a time machine, and someone from the 1800s is going to ask, "why does everyone in your photographs look like a smiling idiot? Was there a rash of some brain-eating disease in your time?" I've also heard the theory based on exposure times, but by the very late 1800s exposure times had dropped dramatically. Though it could be argued that not smiling was a carry-over from the days of long exposure. Again, though, documentation I've seen simply said, "that's just how it was done". Fashions change, just like we don't wear corsets anymore (well, I don't; but I don't judge), now we smile for pictures.
  - thaumasiotes 9y ago
    > I've also heard the theory based on exposure times, but by the very late 1800s exposure times had dropped dramatically. Though it could be argued that not smiling was a carry-over from the days of long exposure. Again, though, documentation I've seen simply said, "that's just how it was done". Presumably photographic portraits were done in the style of painted portraits.
    - mikestew 9y ago
      Hmm, so maybe it is a result of "exposure time". Dunno about you, but I sure can't keep a smile on my face for a few hours while Leonardo does me in oil. (Err, wait, that didn't come out right...) Despite any documentation, I think it's just a matter of asking for an answer to a negative action. "Why didn't you smile for your photographs back then?" "Same reason we didn't do a handstand: why would we?"
- daveFNbuck 9y ago
  It was always my understanding that people didn't smile in older photos because it's easier to hold a neutral pose for a long exposure period.
freeflight 9y ago
> it's strange to imagine that happening in a city today Sometimes I fantasize about just greeting everybody I come across to add some friendliness to the world, until I realize that most people, in an urban setting, would probably be utterly bewildered and confused by such a behavior. It's sad how urban living seems to have conditioned us to treat every other human as a total stranger from whom we should keep the furthest possible distance, physically and emotionally.

MBCook 9y ago

I believe that looking serious was the fashion of the time for when your portrait was taken.

matte_black 9y ago

In old days, smiling in a photograph would be considered ridiculous. There would be nothing worse than having one’s image forever captured with a goofy toothy looking grin.

nerfhammer 9y ago
It's not just the lack of smiling. It's that they were stiff as a board, staring expressionlessly out into space, looking lifeless, taxidermic. The candidness of these photos is interesting because the people look so natural. It's not just the smiling, it's the casual, natural looking poses and expressions, only about half of which are actually smiling. They look actual real life people so to speak.
- icdedppl 9y ago
  Some of those lifeless-looking people are actually lifeless: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-mortem_photography https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-mortem_photography
  - pluma 9y ago
    It's rarer than pop culture myths would make you think: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/victorian-post-mortem-photographs.amp https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/victorian-post-mortem-...

gshakir 9y ago

Lots of people had bad teeth and they did not want it to show up in the pictures.

nerfhammer 9y ago
Photos of this quality weren't sharp enough to make out any detail on any of these people's teeth. I wonder if they assumed that they should try to look as they would for a painted portrait.

dibujante 9y ago

It was because photos required long exposure and it's easier to hold your face in a neutral position. People smiled then as they do now: https://imgur.com/gallery/EYOym https://imgur.com/gallery/EYOym

hobls 9y ago
Wait, this is wildly off topic, but can we talk about the snow woman in the sixth picture? What is happening there? Is that a person covered in snow? A really shockingly well crafted sculpture done by two women with shovels? I am so baffled.
- semtele 9y ago
  It comes from The Strand Magazine, No. 13, from 1892. https://archive.org/details/StrandMagazine13 https://archive.org/details/StrandMagazine13 Scanned PDF has almost 300 MB, but its text description says: The accompanying picture shows what can be done with snow, by those who care to exercise their powers of modelling, and produce something more natural in appearance than the familiar old " Snow Man," built up after the figure of a Lowther Arcade Noah. During a lull in the severe frosts of last winter, two ladies (amateurs, who had never had a lesson in modelling), with the assistance of only a shovel and pair of scissors, erected and modelled the " Snow Lady" in a garden near Pangbourne. No foundation of any kind was used, and no sticks or wires were concealed under the figure for the purpose of supporting head, body, or arms. An enlargement of the original photograph was shown at the Photographic Exhibition during last autumn, and gave rise to many remarks, sage and otherwise. A large number of those who looked at it pronounced it as " No doubt very cleverly got up — but all humbug ! " " Real snow ? Not a bit of it ! Quite impossible ! " I found it via TinEye at https://www.boredpanda.com/a-snow-lady-1892/ https://www.boredpanda.com/a-snow-lady-1892/

tajen 9y ago

And elegant. I’ve always assumed people were overdressed for the picture, and here I notice they actually wore the hat everyday. They dress better than for today’s weddings.

pacaro 9y ago
The theory that I’ve heard is that reliable heating lead to the general decline in hat wearing. Not sure what to think. If you look at pictures taken in public places as late as the 1950s then almost everyone is wearing a hat.