Carroll's photographs

[poliphilo]

A great collection of photographs by Lewis Carroll from Princetown University Library http://libserv3.princeton.edu/rbsc2/portfolio/lc-all-list.html

He wasn't a great photographer. His reputation has been inflated for obvious reasons. All the same these are charming. Rather surprisingly there are a lot of adults and even some small boys.

Comments

[balirus.livejournal.com]

They are a charming peek back 150 years. Viewing these make me wonder though, when did the notion of smiling for a photograph come into fashion? The children are sometimes smiling, but the adults look universally gloomy.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I think it's all to do with exposure times. Victorian sitters had to relax their faces and stare at the lens for ages. Smiles only became practicable when film speeded up- round about 1900.

There's one Carroll photograph- It think it's called "No Lessons Today"- where the girl is grinning. You can actually see her teeth. That is extraordinarily unusual for a Victorian photograph- and the effect is startling and even slightly disturbing.