Empress Dowager Cixi took many photos. Why does she never laugh?

Cixi photography is different from our modern technology at that time, and the exposure technology is very backward. The shutter of the camera takes longer to open, the film takes longer to expose, and any slight movement of people will lead to blurred images. At first, we thought Empress Dowager Cixi was smiling, but as time went on, it was not easy to keep her facial expression.

Speaking of the woman who was most satisfied with her appearance in the Qing Dynasty, it must be Cixi Lafayette. Her beauty is recorded by herself and various historical books. Nowadays, women take a lot of photos to keep their beautiful faces, and Cixi is no exception. She left hundreds of photos in her life, but no one found that there were so many photos, and none left her smile.

What is the exposure time of camera film? It takes about 10 to 15 minutes from pressing the shutter to film exposure. Imagine, in this case, is it easier to smile or not to show any emotion?

In addition, Cixi recorded her face from portrait to camera. Then, we must understand what a portrait means to a person in the Qing Dynasty. We saw in the court of the Qing dynasty that a concubine may have a lifetime and only one or two opportunities to sketch. Therefore, this occasion is very cautious, because its scarcity makes it a very serious matter.

This attitude of carefully recording one's appearance continued until the camera entered the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, in the deep heart of Cixi, she still felt that this matter should be taken seriously and not casually. Let's see, when Cixi took photos, she emptied her purse and took out almost all her jewels and beautiful clothes.