Why are people so serious in old pictures?

Question

in very old pictures (from the 20's or 1900's) people are allways very serious... what is the reason?

Answer 1

Because cameras in those days were still in the primative stage.  The people in the picture had to stand still while the camera did it's thing or the picture would be blurred.  By staying perfectly still and waiting for the camera, it tended to make the people look rigid and serious.

Answer 2

People are so serious because the camera actually took a minute or more before it actually took the picture.  Holding a smile for such a long time would have been extremely painful.  It was just a better option to stay in one position or pose.  Another reason may be that in the late 1920s, the Great Depression began and there was really no reason to be excited.

Answer 3

I really don't know but, this is an interesting question.

I personally have never seen an old family portrait where

any of them are smiling, they all look so somber and detached from one another even the children.

Answer 4

The answer is not simply technical as others suggest, there are cultural issues involved which would make the answer vary in different countries.

Smiling is not something that people "naturally" do when they are facing a camera. We learned to do that when cameras became something familiar to us.

Before pictures existed, canvas portraits where the only means to capture your image. It was common to order a portrait as a way to show wealth and pride in your social status, family or personal accomplishments.

The first pictures still had part of this feeling. At the end of the XIXth and beginning of the XXth Century cameras were not portable, so you had to go to a store to get your picture taken. People dressed up for this important event. It was serious stuff and expensive.