The Mysterious Shocked Man Of Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne

October 30, 2024

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If one delves into the galleries of museums, libraries, and other similar institutions of art and photography, it is likely that the person perusing the collections may come across curious antique photographs of human faces being poked with electrified rods, causing their facial muscles to contract into odd expressions. These peculiar images were created by professional photographers, notably Adrien Tournachon (c. 1825 – 1903), at the direction of Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne (c. 1806-1875), a French physician and neurologist who specialized in studying and treating neuromuscular disorders. Duchenne was also an innovator and inventor—he was a pioneer in the field of medical photography and also produced electrotherapy/diagnosis equipment, as well as a device that was a precursor to modern biopsy tools. Duchenne’s peculiar images of his subjects’ shocked faces were produced as a result of the physician’s medical photography studies into nerves, muscles, and how faradic stimulation (induced by the electrified rods) affects the muscular system.

Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne took pictures of several different human subjects for his series of facial expression photographs, but his favorite (and the subject that art museums and galleries are most likely to showcase) was a disheveled-looking older gentleman with a balding head and missing teeth. Unfortunately, Duchenne did not credit or name the models in his facial expression photography, and as a result the expressive older man featured in the photographs remains an unidentified figure. The Old Toothless Man, as he is sometimes rather rudely nicknamed, was likely a patient of Duchenne (who had a private practice in Boulogne from 1831-1842 and then in Paris from 1842-1875), or from a hospital ward that allowed Duchenne to study and photograph their charges. Duchenne published his facial expression images between 1860-1862, but institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art believe the photographs were taken between 1854 and 1856, whereas other museums (such as the Getty Museum) widen the timeframe to between 1852-1856. As Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne was operating from Paris at that time, the unidentified subjects of the photographs were probably Parisians, or from relatively nearby regions.

Duchenne’s facial expression photography was primarily medical and anatomical in nature, meant to display how common expressions were produced by the contraction of specific muscles. His photography collection, however, found interesting favor in the art community. On the one hand, Duchenne’s photography is a thought-provoking artistic experience, in itself. On the other, the medical photography can serve as an artistic reference for artists wishing to reproduce the complicated musculature of the human face. Whatever the reasons, the art world was drawn to Duchenne’s photography and copies of his work can be found in institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Rijksmuseum, and the Getty Museum, to name a few. Debatable ethics of uncredited models and his use of patients as subjects aside, Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne has gained a respected reputation as a foundational figure in his field of neuromuscular medicine and medical photography.

Below are many of the pictures that Duchenne took of the mysterious man. Be warned, some of the photographs can be a bit unnerving.

All of the photographs featured above come from the MET, the Rijksmuseum, or the Getty Museum, and were all labeled as Public Domain at the time of publishing this article.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Top Picture Attribution: (Left: portrait negative by Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne (1806–1875), [Public Domain] via Getty. Center: Faradisation du muscle frontal, by Duchenne, [Public Domain] via the MET. Right: Fig 58 by Duchenne, [Public Domain] via Getty).

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