Your wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day of your life. So, why do these people look like they're going to a funeral? But it wasn't just formal occasions. It was teens, children, and lots of people with mustaches. Why didn't people smile in old pictures?
結婚本該是人生中最開心的日子。那麼，為什麼這些人看起來像要去喪禮一樣？不過，這副表情不只出現在正式場合。青少年、孩童，還有許多留鬍子的人臉上都能看到。為什麼舊照片中的人都不笑？
The simplest explanation is exposure time. That's basically how much light a camera needs to record an image. The longer the shutter is open, the longer the film is exposed to light.
最簡單的解釋就是曝光時間。曝光基本上就是相機需要多少光才能拍出一張照片。快門開啟的時間越久，底片曝光的時間越長。
Early cameras and film did take longer. So the thinking's that it was easier to hold a serious expression than a smile if you were waiting minutes for your portrait.
早期相機底片的確需要比較長的曝光時間。所以思維是這樣想的：嚴肅的表情比笑容更容易維持，如果拍照要等上好幾分鐘的話。
See this 1838 picture by Louis Daguerre? It's blurry because it probably took 10 to 15 minutes to take. All the people presumably moved during exposure, except for this bootblack and a guy getting his boots polished. You pose for a normal picture and a blurry one came out.
有看到 1838 年 Louis Daguerre 拍攝的這張照片嗎？有點模糊，因為可能花了 10 到 15 分鐘拍攝。曝光期間大概所有人都在動，除了這位擦鞋匠還有正在讓他擦鞋的男子。你擺好姿勢要拍張普通的照片，結果出來的照片是模糊的。
But the problem was fixed. Rapid advances in film technology as well as commercial availability made it easier to take pictures quickly. By the 1870s, bleeding-edge photographers like Eadweard Muybridge were taking photographs that could split a second.
但問題後來解決了。隨著底片技術快速發展加上市面流通性增加，快速拍照不再那麼困難。到了 1870 年代，攝影先驅如 Eadweard Muybridge 等人已能在瞬間拍出照片。
To understand the real reason old pictures were so serious, you have to understand what portraits meant to people back then. Remember, before there were photos, portraits were painted. They were time-consuming, long-lasting and one-of-a-kind. That scarcity made the occasion pretty serious.
要了解舊照片如此嚴肅的真正原因，就必須明白當時肖像對人們的意義。要知道，相片出現之前，肖像是畫出來的。不僅費時，且成品獨一無二、歷久不衰。因為機會難得，人們習慣嚴肅以對。
And that mentality carried over to early photographs. Mark Twain, a professional humorist, said near the turn of the 20th century that "there is nothing more damning to go down to posterity than a silly, foolish smile caught and fixed forever." This is the guy who wrote stories about jumping frogs.
攝影技術發展之初，人們繼承這種心態。幽默大師馬克．吐溫曾在 19、20 世紀之交說過：「一個愚蠢的微笑定格在相片中永垂不朽，沒什麼比這更荒謬了。」而這個人寫了個卡城名蛙的故事。
But his viewpoint was typical. Take for example the oddly popular practice of posing dead bodies for lifelike portraits. The photos weren't a snapshot. They were a passage to immortality, a record of one's existence. By looking at the exceptions, it's easier to understand why most portraits were so grim.
但他的觀點在當時很普遍。例如當時有個奇怪的風俗，會將死者擺成彷彿還活著的模樣，為他們拍攝死亡肖像。這些死亡留影不是隨意的快拍。而是永恆的延續、存在的證明。看到這些不尋常的風俗，我們不難理解為什麼大多數的照片會如此嚴肅。
There are lots of smiling Victorians hiding in photo collections around the world. As early as 1853, Mary Dillwyn captured a boy smile on camera.
其實有不少微笑的維多利亞人隱身在世界各地的照片收藏中。早在 1853 年，Mary Dillwyn 就曾用相機捕捉到一名正在微笑的男孩。
Victorians were not constantly miserable. They just usually got serious when they thought a portrait was being taken. As cameras became more common and photography improved, aesthetics changed and smiles returned.
維多利亞人並不總是那麼悲慘。他們只是經常在拍照時變得嚴肅。隨著相機日漸普及、攝影術日益成熟，審美觀變了，笑容回來了。
Later, movies expanded the possibilities of recording real life. Portraiture broke free from the technology and aesthetics of painting. They discovered the possibilities of a new medium.
後來，電影的出現讓真實記錄人生變得大有可為。人像攝影不再受制於科技和畫像美學。人們發現新媒介的各種可能。
People always knew how to smile. They just had to learn how to show it.
人們一直都知道如何微笑。只是需要學習在鏡頭前展示出來。
