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Middle-class 19th century parents often commissioned
family portraits to serve both as status symbols and heirlooms.
Photographs of children are particularly abundant in family collections
and albums of the 1800’s, and brothers and sisters were regularly
assembled to appear in posed pictures. Boys and girls each held
positions typical for their gender—the girls were generally seated,
while the boys stood behind them gesturing protectively. Children
remained relatively expressionless in photos.
This contrasts significantly with today’s photography in which parents encourage their children to “smile at the camera”. Still, because children were more difficult subjects to control than adults, their faces reveal a more realistic look into their personalities than the “mask” often worn by older subjects. Class pictures also grew increasingly popular as photography became less of a luxury and more of a hobby available to the general public. Amateur photographers took an interest in capturing the everyday lives of American children who spent most of their time in school. |
