Hi! For some reason this post is drawing out a lot of people with misconceptions about how long a photo had to be exposed in 1900. This was taken by a professional photographer in a studio with great light, so it would have been less than a second. https://bsky.app/profile/catsofyore.bsky.social/post/3k6yyhaiheb2j
I've spent many hours photographing kittens with a modern camera so I know this portrait is still a remarkable achievement, but it didn't require the kitten to sit still for many seconds or minutes as some people seem to think. 💫
I dont know what these twits are on about - A cat is notoriously a fickle hard to draw subject, and if the exposure time was longer than 2 seconds, they'd become a big ghost smear or just not show up in the image lol
I think a lot of people forget that photography was a relatively mature technology by the time 1900 came around (which was the same year the Kodak Brownie was released).
Exactly. When photography first emerged, people all over the world were swept up in excitement and there was an international cadre of scientists, inventors, and home tinkerers obsessively experimenting and advancing the technology. It really progressed very quickly.
I love looking at cat photos from the past.
And here I want to offer one that pleases me a lot.
This is Buffins, winner of the 1958 award for "Cat with the most appealing expression".
What does the back of the postcard says about this little guy? Can we all appreciate that someone in 1900 wanted to take a photo of their cat, despite the rarity of cameras the and the expense of film development?
How in the heck did they get a kitten to sit still long enough to get a photo that good back then? The exposure time was outrageous back then. That's why people didn't smile because they couldn't hold it that long.
A well-lit studio photo like this taken in 1900 would have been exposed for just a fraction of a second. And the reasons for not smiling were largely cultural. https://time.com/4568032/smile-serious-old-photos/
Good article but I wish they would've covered why we say "say cheese"! to smile before taking a pic.At least in the US.I wonder if people around the world do it too.🤔
I spent 40 minutes looking through the historic use of the word 'blep,' but all I can say for sure is that 'blepsis' is an amusing word for bad vision, and some late-2010s writers used 'blep-blep' as the sound of a ringing phone.
My grandma had 23 cats at one time when I was a kid (1950s). They'd have kittens, she'd let me play w them for a few months, then we'd take them to the vet to be put to 'sleep'. I think she scarred my life forever.
This was my girl Boo Boo, circa 2013. I hadn't heard the word "blep" to this year. I always called these "tiny tongue kitty pics."
I suppose blep is simpler. 🙃
I just love how there's so many turn of the century photos of pet cats. When photography wasn't cheap, easy, quick, convenient, or accessible, we were taking cat pics, from as soon as we could we were taking blep pics. It's toxoplasmosis isn't it...
Comments
A rapid rectilinear portrait lens would probably be around f8 so easily less than a second.
And here I want to offer one that pleases me a lot.
This is Buffins, winner of the 1958 award for "Cat with the most appealing expression".
Musk/Trump = "White Rule Dictatorship"
beautiful
He was gorgeous 😍 ❤️
MIAO
We brought them here, and now they run this country.
Not the gov't... no...
Cats.
Our furry masters played us... and were adorable the whole time!
Things were not so different then
wife who said they
are probably sleeping and pointed to our Cat,
fast asleep on the coffee table.
I suppose blep is simpler. 🙃
Mostly fight against evil powers
Win back your home
Get back your ex
Get psychic help
Get protection spell
Upgrade your powers
Remove curse
https://www.drmawaylovespell.com
Like cats of today do. maybe.