this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2026
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HistoryPhotos

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HistoryPhotos is for photographs (or, if it can be found, film) of the past, recent or distant! Give us a little snapshot of history!

Rules

  1. Be respectful and inclusive.
  2. No harassment, hate speech, or trolling.
  3. Foster a continuous learning environment.
  4. No genocide or atrocity denialism.
  5. Photos MUST be at LEAST 10 years old, and ideally over 20. We appreciate that we are living through events which will become history, but this is ultimately not a comm for news or current affairs, but events which have occurred some time in the past.

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[–] ThunderQueen@lemmy.world 25 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (2 children)

I really love silly photos from [ancient times]. Most of the ones i see are so serious, it reminds me that people have always been fun weirdos to some degree.

[–] some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world 11 points 18 hours ago (3 children)

Photographs used to be far more expensive, and a really labor-intensive process. Most people couldn't afford to fuck around and "waste" exposures. Someone nearby was probably pissed at this guy, which is hilarious to think about.

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 2 points 4 hours ago

Photographs used to be far more expensive

Yet there's plenty of examples of people goofing around in posed shots.

Somewhere in this community (I think it was, anyway) there's at least one photo of someone posing to look like a disembodied head, which was evidently hugely popular in... I think it was France or Britain, for a while. In the mid-to-late 1800's, I think.

@thunderqueen@lemmy.world

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago

And the exposure time was longer, so all pictures ended up looking serious.

[–] ThunderQueen@lemmy.world 4 points 15 hours ago

Honestly thats part of what makes them so special to me

[–] Rothe@piefed.social 7 points 20 hours ago (1 children)
[–] ThunderQueen@lemmy.world 8 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

I mean ancient times. The olden days. The time before our new gods. (yes)