Figure 52: Voluntary retraction of the lower lip 1854 - 1856

This photograph, "Figure 52: Voluntary retraction of the lower lip," was created by Guillaume Duchenne. The oval format tightly frames a man’s face, his expression a complex arrangement of lines and shadows. The stark contrast emphasizes the furrowed brow and the deliberate, almost theatrical retraction of his lower lip, drawing our attention to the performative nature of emotion itself. Duchenne, using photography as a scientific tool, sought to map the muscular mechanics of facial expressions. However, the image transcends mere documentation. The controlled studio setting and posed expression reveal the constructed nature of emotional display. The photograph challenges the idea of spontaneous, unfiltered emotion, suggesting that expressions can be manipulated and artificially produced. Ultimately, the formal qualities of the image—its starkness, the intense focus on the face, and the deliberate composition—invite us to question the boundaries between genuine feeling and performance, and to consider how photography itself shapes our understanding of human emotion.