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In the old photos, in taking their portraits, why do people need to look anywhere but the camera lenses?

I don’t get the point on not looking at the camera :P Don’t you just wonder? peopl in the 1800s-1900’s look anywhere but the camera lenses. I find it funny

Styles and looks have trends that come and go. However, the main reason for not looking directly into the camera in those days was that the camera equipment was no where near as sophisticated and fast as today. LONG exposure times were required. The subject had to remain as motionless as possible for a few seconds. It was probably much more natural feeling for a person to be looking at another object rather than directly at the camera during a long exposure. That is also the reason you seldom see anyone smiling in older photos. Trying to hold a smile like that was very difficult and unnatural for the relatively long period of time in which the camera was taking the photo.

steve

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at 7:15 pm and is filed under camera lenses. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “In the old photos, in taking their portraits, why do people need to look anywhere but the camera lenses?”

  1. silverbullet Says:
    March 8th, 2010 at 12:32 am

    red eye
    References :

  2. sant kabir Says:
    March 8th, 2010 at 12:46 am

    Also in 1800-1900 most of the portrait were painted.
    References :

  3. David Says:
    March 8th, 2010 at 12:55 am

    Styles change over the years. Even now, a good photographer will not have you look into the lens. Normally they ask you too look above and to one side of the camera. A lot of portraits are still taken with the subject looking off into the distance. It depends on the emotion the photographer wants to convey.
    References :

  4. Steve P Says:
    March 8th, 2010 at 1:38 am

    Styles and looks have trends that come and go. However, the main reason for not looking directly into the camera in those days was that the camera equipment was no where near as sophisticated and fast as today. LONG exposure times were required. The subject had to remain as motionless as possible for a few seconds. It was probably much more natural feeling for a person to be looking at another object rather than directly at the camera during a long exposure. That is also the reason you seldom see anyone smiling in older photos. Trying to hold a smile like that was very difficult and unnatural for the relatively long period of time in which the camera was taking the photo.

    steve
    References :

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