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Student photographs people with hidden spy cam in the 1890s (2018)

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Re: Student photographs people with hidden spy cam in the 1890s (2018)

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Diet has changed drastically since the 1950s. Approaching 50% obesity means we are never going back.

I didn't even think of that, the average person in the US these days is a lot wider these days.

When I first stepped afoot in the US (Newark Airport) in 1999 I saw more grossly overweight people in the first half hour than I had in the last half year in Norway. Easily.

Coming from Oslo, Norway, going to a dev conference. Cultures were very, very different then.

I absolutely loved walking up and down the streets of Boston though, it was simply amazing. I'll always be a bit sad I couldn't organise a visa for going there; instead I ended up down under - not a bad plan B!

Re: Student photographs people with hidden spy cam in the 1890s (2018)

#152
post #59

Somewhat unrelated question that I could probably Google, but I figured it's more interesting to hear your take. Why do people on old pictures look like they're from a completely different era? They look like they're from the 1800s. Is it the camera, the clothing or did they actually look slightly different from us? Or perhaps it's just an illusion? Realistically I wouldn't expect humans' appearance to change that mu…

Diet has changed drastically since the 1950s. Approaching 50% obesity means we are never going back.

1890s?

Re: Student photographs people with hidden spy cam in the 1890s (2018)

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“The fucking article”

It's usually, "the fine article," but yours works, too.

No it's not usually "the fine article". That is just a euphemism.

TFA originates from RTFM, which stands for "read the fucking manual". And it is "fucking" and not "fine", because people would be frustrated by noobs not reading manuals.

Re: Student photographs people with hidden spy cam in the 1890s (2018)

#154
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of our common conceptions of the past are flat out wrong. Often deliberate fabrications for political ends. Why wouldn't fathers, in general, be affectionate? The Bible (to take a very old book) if full of fatherly affection. Take the story of Abraham and his son to be sacrificed. The story has always been shocking because the reader knows the son was so wanted and loved and empathizes. Even the prejudice isn't…

Quoted post unavailable.

Lol. Touche

It might be a fabrication, but then its fantasy and not deliberate. You see, it really is the other way around with respect to my comment. My suspicions about the past are what drives me politically.

Obviously we are better than our forefathers in many things - listing them would be trite. But, on the whole, are we better off (never mind better)? These pictures were taken before industrialized genocide, world wars, atomic weapons, the mass adoption and molding of our cities around the automobile.

Right now every living creature on earth is on a knife’s edge of total destruction through nuclear or environmental disaster. If this is, on the whole, industrial progress I don't want it.

Re: Student photographs people with hidden spy cam in the 1890s (2018)

#155
post #59

Somewhat unrelated question that I could probably Google, but I figured it's more interesting to hear your take. Why do people on old pictures look like they're from a completely different era? They look like they're from the 1800s. Is it the camera, the clothing or did they actually look slightly different from us? Or perhaps it's just an illusion? Realistically I wouldn't expect humans' appearance to change that mu…

One thing during that area is tooth health. Almost everyone had severe issues with their teeth. Rotten black teeth were not an uncommon thing back then. People were aware of that and avoided opening their mouth.

Re: Student photographs people with hidden spy cam in the 1890s (2018)

#156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or alternatively “the featured article” is common

I see, thanks! :)

What a perfect example of https://xkcd.com/1053/

And the humility that it recommends.

Have a nice day!

Re: Student photographs people with hidden spy cam in the 1890s (2018)

#157
post #2

Great find. Thanks for posting. I love it when photos from this era occasionally emerge showing people acting naturally. We're so used to seeing the vast majority of Victorian photographs showing dour-faced people sitting or standing stiffly to attention, that it's sometimes difficult to believe they had human emotions, just like us.

Without the posed stiffness, the major thing remaining that makes them look 19th century is that they're all drowning in cloth; lots of thick layers.

Some of those are actually hilarious. Like peak 80s shoulder pad fashion, only even more extreme:

https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/s...

Re: Student photographs people with hidden spy cam in the 1890s (2018)

#158
post #2

Great find. Thanks for posting. I love it when photos from this era occasionally emerge showing people acting naturally. We're so used to seeing the vast majority of Victorian photographs showing dour-faced people sitting or standing stiffly to attention, that it's sometimes difficult to believe they had human emotions, just like us.

What confuses me: These are good photos! Many are sharp, well lit. And they were made from a pocket camera of people who didn't specifically stand still for the photo.

Why on earth did they have people stand like grim statues for those staged photographs? I thought it was because exposure times were extreme with those early cameras but this kinda proves it wasn't? 1890s, those must be among the first photographs, ever.

Re: Student photographs people with hidden spy cam in the 1890s (2018)

#159
post #158
post #2

Great find. Thanks for posting. I love it when photos from this era occasionally emerge showing people acting naturally. We're so used to seeing the vast majority of Victorian photographs showing dour-faced people sitting or standing stiffly to attention, that it's sometimes difficult to believe they had human emotions, just like us.

What confuses me: These are good photos! Many are sharp, well lit. And they were made from a pocket camera of people who didn't specifically stand still for the photo. Why on earth did they have people stand like grim statues for those staged photographs? I thought it was because exposure times were extreme with those early cameras but this kinda proves it wasn't? 1890s, those must be among the first photographs, eve…

The first photograph successfully fixed to a substrate was in the 1820s, and the commercially viable daguerreotype came in the 1830s, so photography had been around a while in the 1890s.
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