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The Encyclopedia of Photography’s Art and History

    The Mechanics of Human Physiognomy

    • Guillaume Duchenne de Boulogne (1806-1875)

    Pioneering exploration of facial expressions through electro-physiological stimulation and photography.

    Terror mixed with pain, torture

    The Mechanics of Human Physiognomy

    • Guillaume Duchenne de Boulogne (1806-1875)

    Pioneering exploration of facial expressions through electro-physiological stimulation and photography.

    Terror mixed with pain, torture
    This contraction of m. platysma alone lacks expression
    Weeping, tears of pity (left); Relaxed face (right)
    Attention (left); Severity, aggression (right)
    A relaxed face (left); Profound attention (right)
    Lascivious ideas and desires
    Attention
    Pain and despair
    Astonishment, stupefaction, amazement
    A relaxed expression (left); Disgust (right)
    Aggression, wickedness
    False joy or laughter (right)
    Discontent, bad humor
    Surprise
    Painful memories
    Attention
    Memory of love or ecstatic gaze
    Painful recollection or painful thoughts
    Severity
    Attention, attentive gaze (left); Painful attention (right)
    Affected weeping and face in repose
    False laughter

    Books

    The Mechanism of Human Facial Expression (Studies in Emotion and Social Interaction)

    (Cambridge University Press, 1990)

    Mécanisme de la physionomie humaine

    (Hachette BnF, 2022)

    Duchenne de Boulogne

    (Beaux-Arts de Paris, 1999)

    Related Projects

    Metamorphosis through Light
    • Helmar Lerski (1871-1956)

    Study of identity fluidity and perception through a series of 175 portraits of a single individual created with mirrors and natural sunlight.

    Painter
    Everyday Heads
    • Helmar Lerski (1871-1956)

    Anonymous working-class individuals, photographed with dramatic lighting techniques and stripped of social context, to evoke a universal essence.

    Behind the Saint-Lazare station, Paris, 1932. Image courtesy of Magnum Photos.
    The Decisive Moment
    • Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004)

    Ephemeral human moments portrayed through a fusion of spontaneity and precise composition.

    Facile
    • Man Ray (1890-1976)

    Collaborative project blending Paul Éluard’s poetry and Man Ray’s experimental photography, epitomising Surrealist ideals.

    Lampshade Seller, 1899-1900. Collection of The Museum of Modern Art. Image courtesy of MoMA.
    Picturesque Paris: Street Trades
    • Eugène Atget (1857-1927)

    Visual documentation of street work and commerce in early twentieth-century Paris.

    Augustus Fooley-Sad expression
    Studies of Expression
    • Oscar Gustave Rejlander (1813-1875)

    Exploration of human emotional expressions complementing Darwin’s scientific study on universal facial gestures.