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1830s - With photos taking minutes to snap, nobody would attempt to hold a smile for such a long time. So you won't find anyone smiling in these old pictures.

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1850s - Things didn't change much a few decades later. People would still not show their teeth. They did, however, start posing in different positions.

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1880s - Poses started to become a bit more creative. Though we're not sure if that's a smirk?

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1900s - Around 1900, individuals started posing in their typical environment and showing off more about themselves. More and more people were starting to take photographs.

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1910s - Smiles, at last! Yes, it seems that people started to relax a bit more around this time. 

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1910s - Some were even taking photos depicting candid scenes (which were obviously staged). 

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1920s - This is when posing as we know it started. People wanted to look good for the camera and experimented with different poses.

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1920s - During the Roaring Twenties, we started to see pictures of people looking away and not directly into the camera.

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1930s - A bit of a left turn: mug shots started to gain popularity in the 1930s and 1940s.

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1940s - The 1940s were all about big smiles. In fact, this is when people started using the phrase "say cheese!"

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1940s - Another classic pose from the 1940s was the over the shoulder shot.

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1950s - In the 1950s, we started to see more glamorous poses. Celebrity culture started to influence how people posed for photos.

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1960s - The 1960s were all about the power pose.

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1960s - Eccentric outfits and confident superhero-like poses marked the decade.

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1970s - In the 1970s, we started to see more candid photos. People wanted to look more natural.

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1970s - People would even pose to make it look candid (even though we can easily see this is a staged scene).

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1980s - Strike a pose! The 1980s were the decade of the pose par excellence. From pop stars to supermodels, everyone would strike a cool '80s pose for photos.

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1980s - This was one of the go-to poses in the 1980s. Maybe their heads felt really heavy?

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1980s - The '80s wouldn't be the '80s without striking a rock band pose, right? And yes, that's Ricky Martin on the left. You're welcome.

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1980s - And when in doubt, just give yourself a nice cuddle.

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1990s - During the '90s, you wanted to look cool, aloof, and to give off a "I don't care" vibe.

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1990s - With hip-hop culture booming, the '90s were the perfect time to pull a cool pose.

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2000-2010 - Making gestures with your hands for photos was a thing at the turn of the century. Go figure.

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2000-2010 - And looking as silly as possible too. Digital photography meant that you could get rid of a silly picture in seconds, so it was safer.

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2000-2010 - Forced perspective photos were also a thing around this time.

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2000-2010 - Who has never held the sun once or twice?

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2010-2020 - The last decade has been all about the selfie. From duck lips to bunny filters, it's all about me, myself, and I.

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2010-2020 -

And, of course, taking dangerous photos in crazy locations to show the world how cool we are. "Pics or it didn't happen," right?

See also: How to pose like a celebrity

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