Julia Quinn

The Evolution of Baby Portraiture Within American History

Julia Quinn

Figure 1. Baby in Red Chair. Oil on canvas, 22 x 15in. (55.9 x 38.1cm), ca. 1810-1830. Colonial Williamsburg Art Museum. Accessed May 2, 2023, https://emuseum.history.org/objects/19635/baby-in-red-chair?ctx=07566940dab1532f9a8e47c4879f365c11ee3a01&idx=0.

Figure 2. Baby Sitting in Chair Crying. Photograph, ca. 1920s. Getty Images in collaboration with Fine Art America, May 18, 2020. Accessed May 2, 2023, https://photos.com/featured/baby-sitting-in-chair-crying-bettmann.html.

Figure 3. Baby in Highchair Making Mess with Chocolate Pudding. Photograph, n.d.. Alamy Ltd. Accessed May 2, 2023, https://photos.com/featured/baby-sitting-in-chair-crying-bettmann.html.

The portraiture of babies is one of the few common practices that has been present in every century of American history preceding the present-day, which allows for historians to analyze and make comparisons between many documents from various historical periods. Oftentimes when one reflects on history, they fail to consider the everyday lives and specific challenges of children and simply assume that their general experiences were one in the same with that of adults. While the historical studying and knowledge of childhood specifically has existed for some time, only within roughly the past half-century has it become a more common topic, even being referred to as a “new area of investigation” by historians.(1) This alone demonstrates just how little research this aspect of history possesses at the current moment, and is just one reason as to why analyzing documents such as baby portraits should become more utilized and mainstream. One of the large reasons as to why studying baby portraiture specifically is beneficial is because infants are among the only individuals not yet conditioned to behave only through socially-acceptable behavior. This being said, studying photographs of babies presents historians with some of the clearest glimpses into natural human behavior that exist throughout history. In addition, studying the contents of these images, whether it be the stature of the child, their clothing, or even the background, gives an accurate display of the primary morals and values that society during the time held in high regard, as it reflects how the child’s parents wished for them to be portrayed. Therefore, studying the portraiture of babies is extremely important to historians, as it displays both the side of humanity that may otherwise be lost within historical documents while simultaneously providing an accurate understanding of the primary morals and values of society at different points in American history through the way in which their parents depicted them.

Figure 4. Elizabeth Clarke Freake (Mrs. John Freake) and Baby Mary. Oil on canvas, 42 x 36 3/4 in. (108 x 93.3 cm), ca. 1671-1674. Worcester Art Museum. Accessed April 29, 2023, https://www.worcesterart.org/collection/Early_American/Artists/unidentified_17th/elizabeth_f/catalog.html.

The Colonial Period was a time in American history defined by spirituality, diversity, and self-acquired wealth by one’s own labor. Religious influence was also immense, and seemingly all of the practices that these individuals implemented into their everyday lives demonstrated the morals of Christianity. These beliefs translated into the way that parents during the time viewed and raised their children, as the common belief was that babies were born with sin and therefore that a parent’s main goal in raising their child was to lead them to salvation.(2) This being said, parents would immediately begin taking steps in order to instill adult-like physicalities in their babies, such as by putting them in robes to discourage them from crawling, and binding rods to their backs to encourage good posture.(3) As there was not yet live photography during this time, parents had the ability to request that their baby be depicted in this proper and dignified stature, and so the portraiture of babies from the Colonial Period typically displays children exhibiting the physicality of these unnatural, but important, morals: sitting upright, expressionless, and obedient. An excellent example of a seventeenth-century portrait that accurately depicts these descriptions is a 1670s oil painting of Elizabeth Clarke Freake and her baby, Mary (fig 4). By analyzing this portrait, one can see the upright stature of baby Mary, along with her facial expression being calm and reflective of that of her mother’s, further emphasizing the adult-like behavior that babies were expected to exhibit. Additionally, the clothing that Mary is depicted in is deliberately constructed to demonstrate the wealth and social status of the Freake family, such as by including the fine details of the white lace and ribbons on her bright-yellow gown.

Moving forward to the nineteenth-century American Victorian era, industrialization and factories were beginning to flourish throughout the New England region and everyday life for Americans, including their morals, began to shift (4). While the root of all practices were still dependent on obedience, faith, and respect, individuals began to place a bit more emphasis on human relationships. This therefore translated into views regarding parenting and babies, as infants were no longer seen as evil creatures needing to be steered towards goodness, but instead as innately innocent and needing to have morals instilled in them to remain pure.(5) This placed a large amount of pressure on Victorian mothers, who in recent centuries did not direct much love towards their children, but were now required to ensure that they provided only compassion and never demonstrated evil or else the blame would be placed entirely on themselves.(6) An important and ground-breaking development to note during this period was the invention of the camera, and therefore photography, which completely altered the practice of portraiture and the capturing of humans within art from that moment on.(7) In keeping with the budding expression of humanity present among individuals during this time, the possibility of having a portrait which captured a live moment in time as opposed to undergoing the lengthy process of being painted by an artist was quickly utilized by numerous Americans, especially in the late-nineteenth century. In addition, getting a standard photograph taken was typically less expensive than the cost of a portrait, and so the art of portraiture was at last able to extend into the middle and even lower class. This in turn presented a wide variety of new photography genres and practices, such as post-mortem photography, that were soon implemented into everyday life for Americans. However, the many positive aspects that came with being able to capture a real moment in a photograph also presented a number of challenges, especially with photographing babies. In order to force infants to sit still and comply long enough to have their picture taken, the practice referred to today as hidden-mother photography emerged. Hidden-mother photography involved mothers placing a black sheet or drape over their bodies in order to not be seen in a photograph, while still being able to hold their child steady and comfort them.(8) The necessity for this practice demonstrates the immense importance placed upon appearing dignified and not showing an excess amount of emotion, even in babies where that is essentially their only means of natural communication. Because babies could no longer be depicted in a portrait in any manner that their parents wished, more emphasis was placed on expressing the status of one’s family through the clothing that the child was wearing, and even occasionally the objects included within the photograph, perhaps such as an expensive stroller.

When analyzing a photograph currently residing in the Museum of Fine Arts located in Boston, Massachusetts, both hidden-mother photography and the expression of wealth through clothing and the inclusion of a somewhat-arbitrary object can be seen (fig. 5). The mother within the photograph is holding her daughter steady and acting as a balance source for her to rest on and keep her position comfortably, but the covering of her face allows for the focal point of the image to be the baby themself. Additionally, the child is dressed in an expensive white-laced dress, typically meant to demonstrate purity, with shiny boots and socks. However, the true demonstration of wealth can be seen through the parents’ choice to include a gold necklace and purse within her outfit, even though a baby has no real need for such possessions yet. These attributes are extremely important because it demonstrates the morals held in high regard by Americans during this time period, such as purity and wealth, as well as the expressionless face of the child functioning to provide a seemingly-dignified and obedient stature. Although children were beginning to gain the ability to be represented in a more humane light through the existence of photographs, parents still chose to adopt any means necessary in order to have them appear innocent and charming, as babies this time were viewed, while also implementing characteristics of what they would soon be raised to become: obedient, dignified, and reserved.

Figure 5. Hidden Mother Photography. Photograph, 1838. Gift of Lee Marks and John C. DePrez, Jr.. Museum of Fine Arts. Accessed April 29, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/05/victorian-mothers-hidden-photos-their-babies/611347/.

Figure 6. Child in a Buggy, with Lantern. Photograph, ca. 1870s. Mark A. Anderson Collection of Post-Mortem Photography, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Accessed March 20, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/05/victorian-mothers-hidden-photos-their-babies/611347/.

Another previously-mentioned important practice implemented by Americans following the invention of photography was post-mortem photography. Because an increase in the medicalization of society would not become heavily implemented until the early-twentieth century, the mortality rates of Americans during the nineteenth-century, and specifically babies, was extremely high.(9) This being said, Americans would often choose to photograph their deceased children in order to remember them, which was aided by the heightened comfortability surrounding corpses during this time in comparison to the current societal viewpoints.(10) Therefore, the existence of this type of photography also gives historians a glimpse into the vastly different mindset of individuals during this time, and by comparing its popularity during this period to the rarity of the practice now, one is able to see the development of societal practices as the centuries have progressed. One compelling observation that can be seen within post-mortem photographs of children is that the emphasis placed on appearing reserved and dignified was held at such high importance that parents would ensure that their deceased child appeared in keeping with societal values, even in death. In a photograph from the Mark A. Anthony Collection of Post-Mortem Photography, one can see a deceased baby in a stroller, but deliberately dressed in an expensive white dress, shoes, and laying in a carriage that appears to be demonstrating the wealth of the child’s family (fig. 6).

As the twentieth-century emerged, numerous shifts occurred in what were considered to be the most important morals, including the ways in which the majority chose to conduct their everyday lives. The younger generations, as they entered adolescence and their teenage years, began to move away from the dignified and proper Victorian image and instead began to promote the physical expression of what individuals today would consider the “basic” masculine and feminine traits. Additionally, a surge in sexual expression, specifically heterosexual, dominated the youth of the time, especially towards the mid-twentieth century.(11) This new age of thinking can be argued to have resulted in the spike of teen pregnancy and in the “baby boom” years, which allowed for this new youthful way of thinking to be translated into parenting styles and therefore the way that an entire new generation was raised.(12) In addition, the rise in both medicalization and sterilization within society introduced numerous new advancements in American life, many of which directly impacted children; the requirement of the pasteurization of milk by 1910, a greater push for germ control, the founding of the United States Children’s Bureau in 1912, and the mandating of vaccines.(13) Improvements such as these resulted in a significant decrease in infant mortality rates throughout the course of the twentieth-century, and so parents began to allow themselves to form attachments with their children without as great of a risk of losing them as it had been previously.(14) Parents also took new steps to further ensure their baby’s survival, such as can be seen through this period introducing the practice of “baby proofing.”(15) This new approach to parenting can be seen through parenting advice from professionals during the time, such as from Dr. Benjamin Spock in his well-known The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, which advised parents to encourage playfulness and the growing of spirit within their child, which was a dramatic shift from centuries before that still placed a large emphasis on obedience and being reserved.(16) Some of the largest changes in morals that can be witnessed specifically through baby portraiture is the rise in gendering of infants as it never had been before, as well as the increased allowance for expression of natural emotions in photographs, such as smiling, laughing, and even crying. This in turn also increased the popularity of “candid” photography, where the moment captured in the photograph is not posed and is instead a natural moment, a style that is very rarely seen prior to this period. Another important factor that impacted the variety and commonality of photographs was the increasing popularity of owning one’s own digital camera towards the very end of the twentieth-century. This resulted in more “home photographs” that Americans could take on their own camera in their own home, completely altering the accessibility to photography for families of different races and socioeconomic statuses.

In a photograph from the 1950s included in an archival online database, one can see an image that excellently depicts the shift in American external presentation (fig. 7). Within the image is a baby girl smiling, with the main focus of the image being her face as opposed to her clothing, which is an immense difference in comparison to photographs from earlier centuries. This exhibits the shift in mindset from photographs simply existing to display one’s wealth and dignification to instead being a way to capture a moment of true human emotion. This photograph also depicts the emergence of the concept of “play” for children as opposed to working as soon as possible, especially in cities, as this resulted in the increased allowance for the expression of enjoyment and childishness in children.(17)

Figure 7. 1950s Portrait Baby Girl Smiling. Photograph, ca. 1950s. Vintage Images in collaboration with Fine Art America, September 25, 2017. Accessed March 20, 2023, https://fineartamerica.com/featured/1950s-portrait-baby-girl-smiling-vintage-images.html.

Figure 8. Baby Taking Bath. Photograph by George Marks, ca. 1950s. Getty Images in collaboration with Fine Art Storehouse. Accessed March 20, 2023, https://fineartamerica.com/featured/1950s-portrait-baby-girl-smiling-vintage-images.html.

As previously mentioned, other photographs in the mid-twentieth century depicted this new way of thinking through photographing children performing natural and common daily activities as opposed to being intricately posed, another new concept in American history. Within a photograph by George Marks whose creation is dated to the 1950s, one can see a baby boy taking a bath and smiling (fig. 8). Many important observations can be made that reflect American morals during this time period, such as that the baby is not clothed, not looking directly at the camera, and is engaging in an everyday activity, all of which were almost never seen in photographs from previous periods. The heightened emphasis on casualty and naturalness in photographs truly reflects the importance of expressing youthful compassion and “fun” within the younger generation during this time. Additionally, one could make the argument that, by contrasting this image with the previous one of the baby girl, undertones of letting boys be much more casual and rugged as opposed to girls still receiving the pressure to be put-together and a bit more reserved at all times can be seen through the girl’s photograph including full clothing and a more formal set-up.

By the turn of the twenty-first century, the morals and everyday lives of society had once again shifted immensely. Heightened inclusivity, acceptance, self-expression, and creativity were pushed to the forefront, and these values still continue to evolve every day. This new age of thinking has also resulted in a new age of parenting, as children are now typically able to express themselves freely, and one’s individuality and uniqueness are embraced rather than subdued in order to fit a specific societal mold. The rise of social media has greatly influenced the formation of today’s society, which has over the last few years resulted in a concerning dependency and functioned as a determining factor in the way that millions of individuals carry their everyday lives.(18) Although one could argue that the invention of hand-held cell phones, and therefore cameras, has resulted in more authenticity within photographs, the influence of social media and the consequent desire to appear a certain way through the use of filters and editing presents a threat to this point. Perhaps, in keeping with the historical practice of photography functioning more as a performance rather than a reflection of authenticity, our society simply paints a picture of naturalness to mask the true artificial nature of everyone’s lives as is demanded by social media. The constantly-changing trends and fads influenced by popular culture dominate almost all aspects of the way an individual conducts their life and the practices that they partake in, one of which being the emergence of new trends surrounding baby photography. Two of the most prominent shifts in baby portraiture that are present today are the emergence of “themed photoshoots” reflecting the new age of creativity, as well as the drastic decrease in age that parents desire to have their child photographed at, resulting in the surfacing of newborn photoshoots.

Themed photoshoots for babies have seen a dramatic rise in popularity, with the theme itself typically ranging anywhere from concepts associated with babies to completely arbitrary ones. One idea that has been extremely popular among today’s generation of parents with young babies is to photograph them eating without assistance, resulting in an extremely messy, but "aesthetic," photoshoot. In a heartwarming photograph by Mike Kemp, one can see a baby smiling while covered in spaghetti (fig. 9). The candid showcasing of natural human joy coupled with loose rules and little sense of formality is a style that is completely unique to the twenty-first century. The emergence of this style of photography excellently demonstrates the society that surrounds it because it encapsulates the laid-back and creativity-based morals of life that individuals tend to follow, coupled with the desire to achieve social-media worthy content to share to one’s friends, family, and the world.

Figure 9. Baby Covered in Spaghetti. Photograph by Mike Kemp, September 29, 2009. Tetra Images in collaboration with Alamy Stock Photo. Accessed March 20, 2023, https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-baby-covered-in-spaghetti-28665064.html.

Figure 10. Froggy Pose. Photograph by Hello Photography, November 16, 2021. Accessed March 20, 2023, https://hellophotographyaustin.com/studio-newborn-photography-froggy-pose/.

Figure 11. Potato Sack Pose. Photograph by Dawn Potter, October 20, 2015. Dawn Potter Photography. Accessed March 20, 2023, https://www.dawnpotterphotography.com/seattle-newborn-photography.

As mentioned previously, another trend that has emerged in today’s photography industry that millions of parents have utilized is newborn photography. Newborn photography has become a common practice for new parents, and is now almost expected to have captured. Newborn photographers recommend scheduling this style of photoshoot for when the baby is zero to fourteen days old, as once they are older it is nearly impossible to position them in the desired and common poses. However, recent studies have surfaced detailing the immense dangers surrounding performing some of the common poses at so young of an age. The typical process of a newborn photoshoot involves placing the child in an induced sleep from white-noise, then positioning them in various poses, some of the most popular and equally dangerous being the “froggy pose” and the “potato sack pose” (fig. 10; fig. 11). According to a recent study published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science, these poses subject the child to numerous physical dangers, such as long periods of neck hyperextension and unusual breathing patterns.(19) Although many photographers have found ways to still achieve these pictures “safely,” such as by editing their hand out of the photograph so that the baby is not sitting up on their own, it truly provides insight to the standards of today’s society by demonstrating just how far individuals will go to obtain “trendy” photographs of their child.

Studying baby portraiture is extremely important and historically insightful for numerous reasons. A parent’s influence on their child and the morals that they instill in them, as is seen through the various photographs explored, will result in a large impact on the way in which the child will then raise their children in the next generation. Furthermore, studying portraiture in general gives historians a clear view into the everyday lives of individuals throughout various periods in history, consequently humanizing them, which is commonly overlooked and difficult to do through other forms. An individual in today’s society may reflect on some of the common practices surrounding baby portraiture from earlier historical periods, such as post-mortem photography and the overall emotionless stature in photographs that reigned for hundreds of years, and believe that they are absolutely absurd. However, all aspects of society are constantly evolving, and so individuals living in the next century may, and most likely will, view today’s commonalities as just as, if not more, ridiculous.

Footnotes

1. David J. Rothman and Robert H. Bremner, “Documents in Search of a Historian: Toward a History of Childhood and Youth in America,” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 2, no. 2 (1971): pp. 367-377, https://doi.org/10.2307/202852.

2. Barbara E. Moore, “American Childhood through the Years: Colonial Era, 18th Century through Early 19th Century, and Progressive Era,” 2006, p. 5.

3. Steven Mintz, “American Childhood as a Social and Cultural Construct,” in Huck's Raft: A History of American Childhood (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006), pp. 49-50.

4. Douglas Matus, “To What Extent Did the Industrial Revolution Change American Social, Economic & Political Life?,” Seattle PI, November 21, 2017, https://education.seattlepi.com/extent-did-industrial-revolution-change-american-social-economic-political-life-6960.html.

5. Brooke Blower, "Baby Time," HI303: Sex, Love, Family: American Relationships from Birth to Death (class lecture, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, January 23, 2023).

6. Lydia Maria Child, “Chapter 1: The Bodily Senses,” in The Mother's Book (Boston, Massachusetts: Carter, Hendee, and Babcock, 1831), p. 3.

7. Eva Silva, “How Photography Pioneered a New Understanding of Art,” The Collector, May 27, 2022, https://www.thecollector.com/how-photography-transformed-art/.

8. Susan E Cook, “Hidden Mothers: Forms of Absence in Victorian Photography and Fiction,” Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies 17, no. 3 (2021).

9. Brooke Blower, "Baby Time," HI303: Sex, Love, Family: American Relationships from Birth to Death (class lecture, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, January 23, 2023); Melissa Dalton, “Diseases and Child Mortality in Early America,” Out of the Clock Tower (Green County, Ohio, September 21, 2018), https://www.greenecountyohio.gov/Blog.aspx?IID=180#:~:text=Diseases%20and%20Child%20Mortality%20in%20Early%20America&text=Life%20in%20the%2019th%20and,survive%20past%20their%20fifth%20birthday.

10. Brooke Blower, "Dying and Death," HI303: Sex, Love, Family: American Relationships from Birth to Death (class lecture, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, April 27, 2023); “Post-Mortem Photography: An Overview,” UM Clements Library, April 30, 2021, https://clements.umich.edu/exhibit/death-in-early-america/post-mortem-overview/#:~:text=Post%2Dmortem%20photographs%20are%20images,taken%20of%20them%20while%20living.

11. Jonathan Ned Katz, Lisa Duggan, and Gore Vidal, in The Invention of Heterosexuality (New York: Dutton Books, 1995), pp. 83-112.

12. Stephanie J Ventura, T.J. Matthews, and Brady E Hamilton, “Births to Teenagers in the United States, 1940-2000,” 10th ed., vol. 49 (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2001), pp. 1-24.

13. Brooke Blower, "Baby Time," HI303: Sex, Love, Family: American Relationships from Birth to Death (class lecture, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, January 23, 2023).

14. Marilyn J. Field and Richard E. Behrman, “Patterns of Childhood Death in America,” in When Children Die: Improving Palliative and End-of-Life Care for Children and Their Families (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2003), Table 2.4, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK220806/#ddd00049.

15. Brooke Blower, "Learning to Play," HI303: Sex, Love, Family: American Relationships from Birth to Death (class lecture, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, February 2, 2023).

16. Benjamin Spock, in Dr. Benjamin Spock's Baby and Child Care (Pocket Books, 1957), pp. 139-140.

17. Joe L. Frost, A History of Children's Play and Play Environments: Toward a Contemporary Child-Saving Movement (New York: Routledge, 2010).

18. “Social Media Addiction Statistics: Who Is Addicted and What Are the Consequences?,” SearchLogistics, January 19, 2023, https://www.searchlogistics.com/grow/statistics/social-media-addiction-statistics/#:~:text=social%20media%20addiction%3F-,Worldwide%20Social%20Media%20Addiction%20Facts,suffer%20from%20social%20media%20addiction.

19. Edit Nagy and Regina Finta, “An Epidemic of New-Born Photography Poses: the Potential Dangers of Passive End Range Positioning during Induced Sleep in 0–14-Day-Old Neonates: a Scoping Review,” Journal of Physical Therapy Science (dissertation, 2020), pp. 788-794.

About the Author

Julia was raised in Cape May, New Jersey, which gave her the ability to tell others that living in a vacation shore town year-round is, contrary to what one may assume, not at all enjoyable. Her favorite hobbies include listening to music, reading, writing, and listening to podcasts (specifically true crime). She always dreamed of moving to a city, which eventually led her to attend Boston University to study psychology. Julia hopes to one day become a children's clinical psychologist.

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