Grumpy

In the early days of photography, everyone looks grumpy.  There are several reasons for this.  First, it took awhile for the negative to capture the image, so the people had to sit still for a long time.  So they assumed a natural pose and waited for the photographer to tell them they were done.  Also, these were hard working people. They were busy fighting the Civil War (Which, incidentally, wasn’t so civil), there were economic issues, a country to build, and a whole lot of other things going on that didn’t necessarily inspire a lot of joy.  Finally, at that point in the history of photography, people didn’t realize how grumpy they looked.  It never occurred to them to fake a smile by saying “Cheese!”

Around the same time, this guy Maslow came up with a theory which he called the Hierarchy of Needs.  According to Maslow, people focused on safety, food, shelter, and other basic needs before they ever considered seeking something called Self Actualization.  In fact, up until the last couple of generations, most people hadn’t the foggiest notion of what it meant to be actualized – let alone to do it themselves.  They were too busy trying to provide food and shelter for their families.

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