The person who snapped this photograph is unknown but bless him for taking this picture.

As most readers here know, photography before 1900 was a painstaking luxury only the well-off could afford. (Painstaking because of the long exposure time that required a person to hold unnaturally still for a minute or longer.) We have very few pictures of ordinary and poor people before the turn of the century–particularly candid photos. It’s also fairly unusual to see people smiling like the man in this photo is.

Mississippi Dep’t of Archives & History

I doubt there are many candid photos of elderly black men in the south prior to 1900, but at least we know at least one exists!

This photograph was taken in 1890 in Natchez, Mississippi.