Why do photos from 1910 or earlier have no facial expressions?

Alex B. is a dumb cluck. Well before 1900, photographers were using a magnesium ribbon flash to increase the illumination to let them use a short exposure time, perhaps a quarter to half a second. You could hold a smile for that long, but photography was still so expensive that a posed studio photograph was expected to be the only image of you that your descendants would ever see, so you wanted to impress them with your gravity and sobriety. Technical developments in World War I led to cheaper photography and less formal poses and expressions.Why do photos from 1910 or earlier have no facial expressions?
because it took those cameras about 10 minutes to take the picture, people did not hold face smiles for that long





This is why almost all pictures from that time period are either scenery or portrait photographs, all staged, no action photosWhy do photos from 1910 or earlier have no facial expressions?
there was nothing to smile about then. maybe they were scared of being hurt by the cameras or not smiling makes them look stronger.
Because people were imitating statues and they wanted to be remembered for respectability and seriousness and they also had to remain motionless for a few long seconds and it was easier to remain stoic rather than try to hold a smile or some other expression which might cause one to move slightly and cause blur. Prior to that, the 1800s, it took long minutes to have a decent exposure (some photographers had devices to help subjects keep their heads still). Technological advances (such as ';faster'; films, faster shutter speeds and improved lenses which were ';faster'; or with larger maximum apertures, made it possible to take informal photos and people soon were photographed in less formal poses, some weren't posed at all but taken in what today may be called environmental or candid or street photography or even photojournalistic styles.
That's a good question, also have you seen the photos taken of the deceased, propped up as if they're still living? Creepy.
Because of the old photo technology, it took the photographer a long time to be able to focus and take the pictures...probably by that time, if the people had anything to smile about it would have long been forgotten.
Have you ever tried to maintain a smile for like ten minutes? Forget ten minutes, most people can't get a good smile to last longer than like ten seconds. That's why.
the answer from Alex B, Ph.D is kinda pretentious, but he's right. the pictures took a long time to take, not just one second like we have now. sometimes they had little stands you could rest your head in so that it made it easier to hold still. kind of like if you've ever had a porceline doll that comes with the stand so that it'll stand up.
Because, the exposure time took to long, and it would be very hard for a person to hold a smile for 10-20 minutes. So they frowned instead.
because everyone from then was pissed off.....and they liked it lol