Charles Darwin and the Victorian Viral Baby Photo

In 1872, Charles Darwin published his third major work, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.  This treatise approached the subject of emotions, and their corresponding expressions, from a biological rather than theological perspective, showing commonalities between humans and animals. Previously, it was thought that the emotional life of humans distinguished them from other animals.

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Expressions was one of the first books to employ photography and to illustrate scientific theory and is considered to be a landmark in the history of book illustration.  With the use of an astounding number of 30 photographs, spread over seven heliotrope plates and photographs, Darwin decided the mercurial facial expressions of human emotions ranging from joy to defiance.

One of these images, a seated crying child, entitled "Mental Distress" was to gain popularity over all the others featured.  It was technologically challenging in the 1870s, when pictures required long exposure times to produce clear images.  The public was captivated by the vivid expression on the child's face and Mental Distress was to have a successful commercial life of its own.  The print soon became known as "Ginx's Baby" after the title character in Edward Jenkin's novel, Ginx's Baby, His Birth and Other Misfortunes, published in 1874.  The photo was so appealing in popular culture that newspaper articles were written about it, the image was pirated, and Ginx themed merchandise circulated widely.