Is this a photo of Joseph Smith?


Snigmorder

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7 hours ago, Armin said:

There is a young man of about twenty years of age shown on that photo. there can't be any doubt it shows a young man, maybe one or two years older, but not about 35 or 40 years of age.

I agree the man in the pictures looks young, but sometimes looks can be deceiving. I have a cousin late 40's but she looks to like she is in her early 30's. Also my sister who is almost thirty is commonly mistaken for a 16 to 20 year old,  10 to 14 year difference. Many people have younger looking faces, so its possible Joseph Smith had a younger looking face. 

As stated above it may be after Libery Jail, which could be the reason he looks thinner, also a nose may not look prominent unless the person is viewed from the side. Emma Smith had her picture taken in 1845 about 6 months after Joseph's death. Which isn't to significant but shows that phographers where taking pictures around that around during that time period. Joseph did travel east for church or other related reasons. Traveling east to Washington DC or other states Joseph would have more of an opportunity to have a picture taken of him, as I am sure there were more photographers in the eastern states than in Illinois.

 

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1 hour ago, miav said:

I agree the man in the pictures looks young, but sometimes looks can be deceiving. I have a cousin late 40's but she looks to like she is in her early 30's. Also my sister who is almost thirty is commonly mistaken for a 16 to 20 year old,  10 to 14 year difference. Many people have younger looking faces, so its possible Joseph Smith had a younger looking face. 

Think about why they look younger.  Most of the time it is their diminutive stature or slight build.  Joseph does not fit that bill.  As one gets older it is about skin tone and hair color, etc.  But Joseph wasn't old enough for those to be factors in his apparent age.

1 hour ago, miav said:

As stated above it may be after Libery Jail, which could be the reason he looks thinner, also a nose may not look prominent unless the person is viewed from the side. Emma Smith had her picture taken in 1845 about 6 months after Joseph's death. Which isn't to significant but shows that phographers where taking pictures around that around during that time period. Joseph did travel east for church or other related reasons. Traveling east to Washington DC or other states Joseph would have more of an opportunity to have a picture taken of him, as I am sure there were more photographers in the eastern states than in Illinois.

Not quite.  A closer look at the dates during the times of early development is important.

  • Joseph was in Washington in 1839 to Jan 1840.  
  • Samuel Morse (of Morse Code fame) had just returned from France to learn about the art from Daguerre himself.  He wasn't taking photographs at the time.  He was developing equipment, methodology, etc.
  • The first known photograph (later in 1840) taken in America is:

hb_2005_100_75.jpg.17fe4b58903a370a6d31e7f489577dcf.jpg

An unknown "young man" was photographed by Morse in New York later in 1840 than Joseph's time in Washington.  This is the only known extant photograph from Morse, himself.

He then opened a school to teach others the craft.  Students included Southworth and Hawes, & Mathew Brady (yes, that's the correct spelling).  Both opened their commercial practices around that time (1843 and 1844 respectively).

After 1844 it was common around New York and Boston to see anyone of means to get their photo taken.  It wasn't until the 1850s where it was common enough for the common man to take such photographs.  So, that makes me question whether that Emma Smith photo is genuine.  And it makes the Joseph Smith photo (either one) quite suspect.

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I agree that the possibility of the picture being Joseph Smith is slim but just giving the possibilities. I wonder if they will address these issues in the book. I will have to read it and find out. 

It doesn't bother me either way, if it's a picture of Joseph Smith, then great (although we will never be 100 percent sure). But if it's not then it's not a big deal. I think it will be interesting to read the book and look at the similarities.

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  • 5 years later...
2 hours ago, Franklin said:

This is not a photo of Joseph Smith the Prophet. The technology of photography had not yet reached any place where he lived before his death in 1844. It is likely a photo of his son, Joseph Smith III of whom it is said looked very much like his father.

see

 

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  • 1 year later...
On 7/12/2017 at 3:43 PM, Snigmorder said:

 I don't consider the death mask a completely accurate depiction of his face considering he fell from a window and was dead (hence, death mask.) I think the lips in both photos and on the death mask are very similar (I don't think the lips would be all that compromised.)

he was hit hard in the face with a rifle butt as he lay dying below window. breaking his nose , upper mandible ,cheek bones and thus deforming by swelling , his face with internal hemorage as he lay dying.

sooo death mask is not completely accurate as to his facial features in life.

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9 minutes ago, Emmanuel Goldstein said:

Why are so many worried about finding a photo of the Prophet?

 

It's about historic preservation and trying to unlock the mysteries of the past. 

People forget that even solid objects can be lost or destroyed over time, and all too often they're lost or destroyed deliberately.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...
On 7/12/2017 at 2:44 PM, Guest said:

Never seen the top one, but it sure looks like him.

The bottom one doesn't look a whole lot like paintings of Joseph, but the facial features apparently match up almost perfectly with skull fragments (you can see this online).  One explanation is the bottom photo was taken right after he was in Liberty Jail and he had lost a lot of weight.  Based on what I have seen and read, I think the bottom one is probably a genuine photograph of Joseph.

But he must have been wearing his ring tho right?? I don’t see his ring in this picture 

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On 4/19/2024 at 12:21 AM, ZealoulyStriving said:

I meet a, about, 3 great-grandson of Joseph who was about 18 at the time, he looked exactly like some of the paintings of Joseph and was tall like Joseph.

Dude that is so cool. I met a relative of Bruce McKonkie (sp?) once, but I didn’t know who he was at the time-it was a little awkward. 

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