Figure 57: Astonishment, stupefaction, amazement 1854 - 1856

This is a photograph, made in France, by Guillaume Duchenne. This image of ‘Astonishment, stupefaction, amazement’ belongs to a series entitled ‘The Mechanism of Human Facial Expression.’ Duchenne was interested in the way that specific muscles in the face contract to create certain expressions. His work reflects the 19th century’s obsession with physiognomy – the idea that the face was a direct reflection of inner character. But instead of relying on observation, Duchenne used electrical probes to stimulate different facial muscles in his subject. It is important to remember that the subject here was a patient in a hospital, and Duchenne was interested in him precisely because of a sensory deficit in his face. Duchenne was working at a time when the authority of academic art was declining, but scientific research was gaining prestige. A photograph like this, with its apparent objectivity, was seen as more reliable than a drawing. Understanding the social and intellectual history of this image involves researching the history of science, medicine, and photography in France in the mid-19th century.