Family photos in the19th century

In the 19th century, as we can see in this family

photograph, main role belongs to the husband, that’s

why he’s sitting down in the center of the image,

sorrounded by his wife and children. Wife’s role is

secondary, that’s why her position in the frame is on

one side of it.

In the 19th Century, families used to have plenty of

children, mainly due to woman’s main role inside

the house: to take care of her husband and children,

and housekeeping. That’s why her main objective in life was

to get married.

In this wedding photograph of a Spanish officer

from the 19th Century, man wears his army uniform,

while the bride is in black, an austere colour but also

a trend in that period.

Family photos in the20th century

As we can see in this photograph, the man has

lost, at least in part, his main position, sharing it

with his wife in the center of the frame. At the

same time, children’s number has been reduced if

we compare it to an average 19th century family.

In this period, we can also find two big differences

with family photographs from previous century: on

the one hand, people’s mood has changed from

austere to more relaxed; they’re even smiling in this

photograph. And, on the other hand, costumes have

also changed, with the woman being more worried

about her own image.

In this weeding photograph, the change of mood we

already noticed in this century becomes even more

obvious when we analyze bride’s costume:

white, much more decorated than man’s one, a big

bridal bouquet and a large veil, making her the main

character of the image.

Family photos in the21th century

In the 21th century, roles of men and women in the family are

completely interchangeable; there’s no leading role. As we can

see here, the photo recreates a situation in which the family is

having fun: a picnic in the countryside.

About the number of the family members, it seems that there

are no big changes from the 20th century; that is, families

normally have two or three children, or even less, as you can

see in the following picture.

However, the concept of “traditional family” in the

21th century has changed in many ways.

Nowadays, we can find a single mother (or father)

who brings up the child without having a couple.

Thanks to the changes that some countries have been

making lately in some of their laws, gay & lesbian

couples are starting to create their own version of the

family: now, they can get married …

…and they can also adopt children to create

their own family.

So, this is how it looks a “modern

family” today:

“…and in any century, they alllived happily ever after”

THE END