Why Don't They Smile In Old Photographs, But Put Their Hand On Their Shoulder

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

A photographer I knew told me why no one smiles in old photographs, and they always put their hand on their shoulder

I recently took pictures in the studio of a good friend of mine. He is well versed in his craft and knows a lot of interesting things from the history of photography. The pictures I wanted were taken very quickly, and we chatted about how long people had to pose for pictures in the past.

An acquaintance asked if I knew why people in old photographs did not smile, and those standing always put their hand on the shoulder of those who were sitting. I did notice these features in yellowed shots from home archives, but I never wondered why people did this.

The first is connected with the duration of the posing. When the process of imaging takes a few minutes, it is difficult to keep a smile on your face. Later, devices with a relatively short exposure appeared, but people continued to follow the tradition laid down by their predecessors for a long time.

A decent person should have shown his seriousness and solidity, not a playful attitude. Taking photographs was regarded as a very important and significant procedure. Most could only afford one photograph for a lifetime, so a "frivolous" smile was considered inappropriate.

The third reason is that the art of photography has its origins in painting, and smiles in artists' portraits have been a rare occurrence for many centuries.

Of course, the unsmiling faces of distant ancestors are to some extent associated with the poor condition of the teeth, the hygiene of which in past centuries was primitive. But the desire to remain in the memory of posterity as a respectable and serious person played a role.

The palm on the neighbor's shoulder was also placed due to the long exposure of the first cameras. It made it easier to stand in one position so that random movement would not blur the image. It turns out that in single photographs, posing also tried to lean on some object as much as possible - usually on a whatnot or stand.

In addition, many people, especially from the lower strata of society, because of the excitement in front of the camera, began to involuntarily move their hands and wiggle their fingers.

If the photo studio did not have special stands, the photographer could give the posing to hold an object, and those who were photographed as a couple were asked to shake hands.

Such an interesting story was hidden behind old photographs.