system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5 why people in older pictures/movies (black and white) look "different" than modern day people?

As in: Why can't picture what they would look like in real life, whereas if if you showed me a 5 year old picture made black and white in photoshop I could definitely do that. I don't know if anyone else can relate or if this makes sense, but I hope so!
gpt
**15 year old version:**
Oldschool photos are in that style as it maximises the technology they had at the time. Technology advanced, the style of posed photography changed, and we got really good at capturing more detail and greater light intensity. Digital cameras do not resemble old-school film cameras in the slightest - they compensate for light, colour balance, levels, contrast etc. 

If you're to take a 2011 photo in Photoshop, you'd easily be able to make it look old if you reduced levels, added a sepia filter, added 'noise' or film grain, added a vignette, added dust & scratches, darkened the midtones and blurred the whole thing. There are a number of Photoshop actions which automate this - search for 'vintage photoshop actions'.

But...the way we pose for photos and the way action photos are shot has changed. Because we don't have to stand stock still for 2 minutes waiting for the film to be exposed, pics are often more candid or less formal, which effects the 'mood' of the photo. 

**True LI5: **
A long time ago, taking photographs cost a lot of money and needed very special cameras. These cameras were not very good, so the photographer had to play around with the photos and the camera to make the photos look good. 

Over time, we learn how to do things better. We learnt how to make better cameras, and the cameras took better pictures. The cameras were able to take photos using less light and much clearer photos. 

Today, digital cameras are very good and take good photos. In order to make them look the same as old photos, we have to mess them up a bit.