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Old 04-12-2007, 04:20 PM   #16
footfootfoot
To shreds, you say?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: in the house and on the street-how many, many feet we meet!
Posts: 18,449
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clodfobble View Post
Someone told me once that this had to do with camera technology of the time--you had to hold perfectly still for up to a minute for the film to fully expose. If you tried to hold your smile that long and faltered, your face would be blurry(-ier).

On the other hand, there are apparently still places today where not-smiling is the custom. When we were looking at houses for sale recently, we went through one home that had family photos (the posed kind you take in a studio) covering every single wall, dozens and dozens of them, and not a single smile among any of them. It was really creepy.
In the 20's and in that kind of sunlight (note the squinting) the exposure would have been quick enough to allow smiling. I think the sun made for the grimmaces. Earlier film called for exposures of more than two minutes, thus the petrified faces.

no idea about the creepy ones tho. undead?
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