Through such campaigns, Kodak helped shape a culture in which taking photographs was seen as a matter of pure pleasure. This changed the way ordinary people across the world engaged with the camera, whether at home, in the photo booth, or on holiday.
Say Prunes!
The surprising history of the smile—or lack of it—in early photographs
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Girl Holding a Basket, about 1849, Atelier Héliographique. Hand-colored daguerreotype, 4 1/2 × 2 11/16 in. Getty Museum, 84.XT.403.24
Body Content
It’s a question we get asked a lot: Why don’t people smile in old photographs?
The answer may surprise you!
Portrait of a Woman, about 1852–1855. Jacob Byerly. Daguerreotype, 3 3/16 × 2 11/16 in. Getty Museum, 84.XT.1600.16
One reason is technical. The exposure time for early photographs was long: over 15 minutes in the earliest days of the portrait daguerreotype. Though this rapidly decreased to just over a minute as scientists fine-tuned the process, sitters had to remain still the entire time to avoid blur.
Neck braces and head clamps, such as this one, were commonly used to hold sitters in place. A natural smile could easily turn into a grimace when held for so long.
Portrait of a Man in a Top Hat, about 1856. James P. Weston. Hand-colored daguerreotype, 2 1/8 × 1 11/16 in. Getty Museum, 84.XT.1565.11
But it wasn’t just the technology. Just like now, social norms governed what kind of look you “should” have before the camera.
Portrait of a Woman with a Book of Music, about 1540–1545. Bachiacca (Francesco Ubertini). Oil on panel, 40 5/8 × 31 5/8 in. Getty Museum, 78.PB.227
Portrait of a Seated Woman with Ringlets, about 1857. William Hardy Kent. Hand-colored daguerreotype, 2 11/16 × 2 1/4 in. Getty Museum, 84.XT.1566.12
Much early studio photography in Europe and North America reflected the conventions of Western European portraiture, from the photograph’s setting and staging to the poses, gestures, and expressions of sitters.
Bacchante with an Ape, 1627. Hendrick ter Brugghen. Oil on canvas, 40 1/2 × 35 1/8 in. Getty Museum, 84.PA.5
Peasants Drinking in a Tavern, early 1640s. Adriaen van Ostade. Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk, 4 5/16 × 5 13/16 in. Getty Museum, 2011.32
Smiling widely and showing your teeth wasn’t a good look for anyone who wanted to be considered a serious person. As scholars such as Angus Trumble and Nicholas Jeeves have detailed, a broad grin was associated with lewdness, lunacy, drunkenness, and the lower classes. These associations persisted in much formal 19th-century portraiture.
Mrs. R. Holdsworth, February 16, 1853. Richard Beard. Hand-colored daguerreotype, 3 1/16 × 2 9/16 in. Getty Museum, 84.XT.266.14
In London, daguerreotypist Richard Beard instructed sitters to “say prunes” before their portrait was made, to achieve the perfect tart mouth—then considered the very image of decorum.
Female nude standing with back to full-length mirror, 1851–1853. Félix Jacques Moulin. Hand-colored daguerreotype, 2 11/16 × 2 3/16 in. Getty Museum, 84.XT.836.4
Open smiles were largely reserved for images of a more flirtatious nature. Combined with a soft gaze into the distance, a come-hither smile quickly became a staple of early photographic erotica.
Syphilis hereditaria, 1881. Dr. George Henry Fox. Hand-colored collotype, 6 15/16 × 5 in. Getty Museum, 84.XB.730.1.45
Portraits of people baring their teeth could also be found in the pages of medical journals, as diagnostic tools for gum disease and syphilis. In the United States, the field of dentistry was rapidly formalizing in the mid-19th century, but dentures and hygiene treatment were available only to the privileged few. Unsurprisingly, people’s teeth in general weren’t that great.
The Kodak Girl. Australasian Photographic Review, 23 January 1911. State Library Victoria, Australia, A 770.5 AU7P v. 18
With the advent of snapshot photography in 1888, Kodak marketed to the world a vision of photography as a joyous pursuit. In mass advertisements on the printed page and in the streets, the company’s “Kodak Girl” lived a life of leisure, her portable camera always at the ready on trips to the beach and the countryside.
Smiling Young Man, about 1940–1950, American. Hand-colored gelatin silver print, 1 15/16 × 1 1/2 in. Getty Museum, 2009.141.382. Gift of Sharon and Michael Blasgen and Michael Wilson
Women Close Up, 2006. Gail Pine and Jacqueline Woods and Unknown maker. Gelatin silver prints. Getty Museum, 2007.51.7. Gift of Michael and Sharon Blasgen and Wilson Centre for Photography. © Pine & Woods, 2006
Portrait of a Young Woman, about 1940. Gail Pine and Jacqueline Woods and Unknown maker. Gelatin silver print, 4 7/16 × 3 1/16 in. Getty Museum, 2007.51.7.8. Gift of Michael and Sharon Blasgen and Wilson Centre for Photography. © Pine & Woods, 2006
