Here's something that you don't see very often.

[qnr]

A photograph of a 19th century Kiowa with a smile - and a gorgeous smile at that.

A Rare Smile

[Marie Marie]

1. She is beautiful

[qnr]

2. She is indeed. n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I don't think I've ever seen anybody smile in a photo of that era.

I don't know whether that was because getting your picture taken was kind of a big deal then and people were expected to be appropriately solemn and dignified, or because you had to hold still for the exposure and your smile would collapse too easily. All the old photos from my grandparents' era and before then look like they were about to be hanged. This photo is really cute.

[qnr]

4. It is cute. There were a lot of reasons (I have seen one or two before this)

Holding a fake smile for many minutes would be very painful, and look, well, fake. In this case, it looks like there was a great light source, so she may not have had to hold it as long.

They were, indeed, solemn occasions.

Lots of them were once in a lifetime occurrences; many times arranged to get a deceased family member memorialized in the photo. Probably didn't want to try to smile too much with the corpse of your relative near you.

[malthaussen]

5. It's rare, but not unheard of.

My opinion is that one was expected to maintain dignity at all times, so smiling would be right out. And no doubt time of exposure would have encouraged that, but that would vary a lot.

-- Mal

[progressoid]

8. Want to be seen as upper class and as a person of good character? Don’t smile.

By the 17th century in Europe it was a well-established fact that the only people who smiled broadly, in life and in art, were the poor, the lewd, the drunk, the innocent, and the entertainment.

http://publicdomainreview.org/2013/09/18/the-serious-and-the-smirk-the-smile-in-portraiture/

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. Fascinating article - thanks!

[rug]

6. Wow, that looks like it was taken yesterday.

[qnr]

7. I know just what you mean! n/t

[Aristus]

9. So beautiful.

Want to see how beautiful people can be when they smile? Check this out:

(There's one person who obviously distrusted the videographer; ignore her...)

[qnr]

10. I'll check it out when I get home. :D n/t