Looking at portrait1 photos from the past， you may notice a common trend.The old portrait photographs often show adults and children looking serious and notsmiling. This can even be seen in photos of weddings and celebrations where youexpect happiness and joy. You will mostly notice this in portraits taken in the late18th century and throughout the 19th century. But why did people not smile infront of the camera？ In this article， we will look at the history of photography andthe traditions around portraiture2.

看看過去的肖像照片，你可能會注意到一個共同的趨勢。老肖像照片中，成人和兒童往往神情嚴(yán)肅，不茍言笑。這種情況甚至可以在你預(yù)期充滿幸福和喜悅的婚禮和慶?；顒拥恼掌锌吹?。你會在18 世紀(jì)末和整個19 世紀(jì)拍攝的照片中注意到這一點。但是為什么人們在鏡頭前沒有微笑呢？在這篇文章中，我們將看看攝影的歷史和人像攝影的傳統(tǒng)。

Early cameras made portraits challenging to capture3.

早期相機(jī)拍攝肖像具有挑戰(zhàn)性遙

One of the most common reasons is that photos used to take a long time to expose4. The first cameras were not as instant5 as taking a photo on your phonetoday. Photos took time to expose， meaning the subject had to sit still for a long time.

最常見的原因之一是照片在過去需要很長時間才能曝光。最初的相機(jī)并不像今天在手機(jī)上拍照那樣即時可得。照片曝光需要時間，這意味著拍攝對象必須長時間坐著不動。

On average， the first cameras took around 20 minutes to take a photo. Thesubject needed to stay as still as possible to get the highest quality photo. Themovement would cause the photo to blur6 and the subject to be out of focus7.Therefore， sitting with a relaxed face rather than holding a smile for 20 minuteswas easier.

平均而言，最初的相機(jī)拍攝一張照片大約需要20 分鐘。拍攝對象需要盡可能保持靜止，才能拍攝到最高質(zhì)量的照片。移動會導(dǎo)致照片模糊，主體對焦不準(zhǔn)。因此，面容放松地坐著比坐著保持微笑20 分鐘更容易。

Portraiture photography was initially seen as an alternative8 art form to painting.

肖像攝影最初被視為一種替代繪畫的藝術(shù)形式遙

There are also ties with the idea of portraits being a special moment to recorda person’s existence. Before cameras， this would have been hand-painted， whichwould have taken hours.

這也與肖像是記錄一個人存在的特殊時刻的觀點有關(guān)。在相機(jī)出現(xiàn)之前，肖像是手繪的，需要幾個小時。

The idea of having a portrait done was associated9 with a special occasion，whether it be to commemorate10 a birthday， achievement， or celebration. The ideaof a portrait was to take time to capture the significant11 moment. This tradition waspassed on even when cameras came into play. It is thought that people of the timecarried this mentality12 of it being a serious and significant moment even whenphotography was introduced.

無論是為了紀(jì)念生日、成就還是慶祝活動，制作肖像的想法都與特殊的場合聯(lián)系在一起。制作肖像的目的是花時間捕捉重要時刻。這一傳統(tǒng)甚至在相機(jī)出現(xiàn)之后也得到了傳承。人們認(rèn)為，即使在攝影技術(shù)問世之后，那個時代的人們也抱有這種心態(tài)，認(rèn)為這是一個嚴(yán)肅而重要的時刻。

The Victorian obsession13 with portraits of the dead.

維多利亞時代對死者肖像照的癡迷遙

Another reason you see people looking serious could be the Victorian traditionof taking photos of the deceased14. In Victorian times， it became increasinglypopular to photograph the dead. This is because， unlike today， photos were seen asa way to capture a“frozen presentation”of a person.

你看到人們神情嚴(yán)肅的另一個原因可能是維多利亞時代為死者拍照的傳統(tǒng)。在維多利亞時代，為死者拍照變得越來越流行。這是因為，與今天不同，照片被視為一種捕捉一個人“定格的樣子”的方式。

Once a loved one passed away， they would be dressed in black and placedupright to be photographed. This was somewhat of a documentation15 process andwas seen as a passage to immortality16.

一旦所愛的人去世，人們會為他們穿上黑色的衣服，直立著拍照。這在某種程度上是一個記錄的過程，被視為通往不朽的通道。

Smiling was disapproved17 from 1800 to the 1900s.

從19 世紀(jì)到20 世紀(jì)袁人們不贊同微笑遙

As well as having an unusual interest in photographing the dead， theVictorians and Edwardians disapproved of smiling.

除了對拍攝死者有著不同尋常的興趣外，維多利亞時代和愛德華時代的人也不贊同微笑。

At the time， smiling was considered idiotic18 and a lower-class action. Beingserious and keeping a straight face was believed to be the most powerful andelegant19 facial expression. It was seen as foolish to smile， so looking serious wasimportant in portraits.

當(dāng)時，微笑被認(rèn)為是愚蠢的，是下層階級的行為。保持嚴(yán)肅和板著臉被認(rèn)為是最強(qiáng)大、最優(yōu)雅的面部表情。人們認(rèn)為微笑是愚蠢的，所以嚴(yán)肅的表情在肖像照中很重要。

Conclusion

總結(jié)

Overall， people never smile in old photos for various reasons. The commontrend is related to what was acceptable at the time and technical hindrances20.

總的來說，由于各種原因，老照片中的人們從不微笑。這種普遍的趨勢與當(dāng)時可接受的情況和技術(shù)障礙有關(guān)。

Smiling in photography and portraits was initially challenging due to thetime it took to capture an image.

攝影和肖像照片中的微笑最初很有挑戰(zhàn)性，因為拍攝一張圖片需要很長時間。

Aside from the technical aspect， another factor is the standards of the time.For example， smiling was looked down on and was seen as improper.

除了技術(shù)方面，另一個因素是當(dāng)時的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。例如，微笑被人看不起，被認(rèn)為是不得體的。