Have you ever wondered why people never smiled in photos in the past? Why does everyone look so gloomy in wedding photos, like they're attending a funeral? Perhaps you connected this with the fact that there were hard times at the time. Yes, they didn't have smart phones, McDonalds, television, freedom, etc., so they had every right to be angry, but the answer is really technical.
What is the reason that people in the past never smiled (at us) in photos? Today, a smile is something positive, but a few centuries ago in Europe, it was considered that people only smiled drunk, poor and obscene. The upper class was not allowed to laugh. This is the reason why most portraits of famous people or leaders are serious, as a smile would discredit their position and affected their public image.
But more than that and the fact that oral hygiene it was once not at today's level, is a solid justification that concerns technical limitations.
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Photography was once upon a time formality, prestige, and at the same time, for the first photograph, which was taken in 1826, they needed just 8 hours of lighting. At that time, until 1839, they cut down on 15 minutes, but not enough for photos with smiles. For the portraits, people had to stand completely still for a quarter of an hour, and because it is used when laughing too much muscle, laughing during the photo shoot was forbidden, as it is impossible to keep laughing for so long.
So, now you know why you are worried (great) great grandfathers and (great) great grandmothers they never smiled in the photos. It wasn't so much the hard life as the long exposure time.
