In the early daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and ferrotypes (daguerreotypes only had a few seconds of exposure, so they probably weren't frowning because of the long exposure time), in the portraits everyone is always stern-looking, not frowning but certainly not happy-looking. These days it's nearly the polar opposite: even if someone is having a terrible day, they'll unusually still smile in a picture. So, when did people start habitually smiling in photographs, and do you have any clue why?
P.S. I originally posted this in the Society and Culture section, but all I got was a dumb girl telling me it was exposure time. I already said that after the camera was set up, exposure was only a few seconds. Besides, these days professional portraits take a long time, but people still smile. So don't anyone tell me no one smiled in old photos simply because the exposure times were long.
2007-12-20
02:24:56
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6 answers
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asked by
kvn8907
3