Death photos

[George L. Lorton]

I think Monica had something on memories. Some of those Memento Mori or Mort photos of children were the only records of their short lives so naturally or unnaturally to us the bereaved Victorians would on the other hand take photographs to mark the occasion. Along with Memento Mori Photo's of the adults.

We most remember that death was quite a different thing to Victorians then it is to us what with how they looked at religion and certain aspects of their lives.

To us a Photo of a dead child with it's living siblings or a woman dead in Child Bed with her dead infant is disturbing but to the Victorians the Memento Mori or Mort Photo's were the marking or beginning photo's of their loved ones ascension to Heaven which was a profound event to them, The Victorians and the photo's were a reminder of the loved one before they met again.

 

[Kyrila Scully]

My great-grandfather, George Henry Hunt (not the man of the same name who perished on Titanic) drowned in the 40's when my mother was a child. There was a photograph taken of him in his casket with family members standing around. So the practice did not end in the Edwardian era--just not as prevalent. There are probably still people who photograph loved ones in death.

 

[Chad Goodwin]

On my Fathers side of the family they were still taking DEATH PHOTOS until the mid 60s........kind of a shock as a teen going through a box of old pics....only to come face to face with dead relatives

 

[George L. Lorton]

I figured that the practice might of survived in some families. I've found out that some funeral homes take pictures of customers lying in state for their records.

 

[Ben Lemmon]

As mentioned above, there is a non-profit society taking Bereavement photos of infants who die near birth. It still happens but simply isn't as prevalent, as Kyrila said. There are also pictures from 1939 and other more recent years. What started in the Victorian era sparked a fire, the embers of which still glow today. The book I borrowed from the library today mentions that the practice started by at least 1840, perhaps earlier.

There is also a quick poem that I found concerning Post-mortem photography:

Secure the Shadow, Ere the Substance Fade,
Let Nature imitate what Nature Made

This poem was one of photography's earliest cliches, and some of you know how much I love cliches

. It obviously predates George Eastman's (of Eastman Kodak) cliche of "you push the button, we do the rest."

The aforementioned book comments on the current status of Post-mortem photography. It "is a photographic activity, like the erotica produced in middle-class homes by married couples, that many privately practice but seldom circulate outside the trusted circle of close friends and relatives." It also says "[Though it is] sometimes thought to be an bizarre Victorian custom, photographing corpses has been and continues to be an important, if not common occurrence in American life."

As a result, our previous postulates of its near extinction were not as correct as we might have thought. Though we might find it a proscribed subject, some people continue to do it now, in the 21st century.

Who would have thunk that while watching The Others? Anyway, I suggest looking at the linked site above. It shows some pretty current photos that are just as haunting as the ones from the Victorian Era.

Also, does the old photographic cliche sound like an incantation to anyone else besides me?

 

[George L. Lorton]

That image from the others stayed with me as well. That was a haunting movie on so many levels.

What the name of the book you got Ben?

 

[Ben Lemmon]

The book I have is called Secure the Shadow, just like the former cliche. I found it at my university's library and it is pretty interesting. I plan on reading a bit more of it before I hit the hay. There's also one that I mentioned above. It's called Sleeping Beauty II: Grief, Bereavement in Memorial Photography American and European Traditions.

Geo, do you happen to have a Costco near where you live?

 

[Jason Schleisman]

Actually, come to think of it, my family took photos of my father's parents in their coffins shortly after they each respectively passed away. That was in the early 2000's!! I forgot all about these photos because I actively avoid looking at them. I guess it's still a practice.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>In Europe, but more in other parts of the world, possibly more religious, graves sometimes bear the photos of the dead ... but, I think, only now when they were alive.<<

In some Asian and Pacific Islander cultures, this appears to be the case. I've seen some of the cemetaries overseas and also in the USA where there are large ethnic Asian populations and the photos Monica mentioned appear on a number of tombstones. None of them are post mortem. Everyone of seen was of the subject when that person was still among the living.

 

[George L. Lorton]

Geo, do you happen to have a Costco near where you live?

I don't think so.

We really didn't have this practice in our family or so I thought. Although my grandmother says there was a photo of her great-grandmother who died from cholera or yellow fever in 1870's. But that that photo has passed out of our side of the family.

 

[Ben Lemmon]

We really didn't have this practice in our family or so I thought.

It would be interesting to uncover any photos of this subject area that are from our respective families. From what I have read, though, this seemed to be a practice that happened more commonly with children. I think this is because the elderly will have had a chance within their longer life to get a living photo of themselves. I think, with the older subjects, if there was a posthumous photo taken of them, it was to commemorate their posterity, and to always have a reminder of them. There are a couple of photos with younger children with their deceased parents or grandparents. However, this is only me postulating.

Geo, what did you mean by saying, "That photo has passed out of our side of the family?"

 

[George L. Lorton]

Ben,
That was the only case in my family and that was when it was popular. Maybe Great Gramps had seen Memento Mori Photography done and decided that he wanted a photo of Grandma. Although Grandma heard that her Great Grandma was pregnant when she died of Cholera. So that might of had something to do with her being photographed or not.

From what I have read, though, this seemed to be a practice that happened more commonly with children.

Well she might of been Pregnant and there are examples of Memento Pics of Women who died in Childbirth with their infants so maybe that might of had something to do with it although I think that was a one time thing. No other family members were remembered in this way. As for G-G- Grandma's pregnancy well I've never seen the photo and Grandma hasn't seen it since she was 13 and she says she never noticed if Grandma was pregnant or not.

Geo, what did you mean by saying, "That photo has passed out of our side of the family?"

Another branch of the Zane's got it. Grandma's Mother was never that keen of owning a photo of her dead Grandmother it seems so it went to one of her sisters.

 

[George L. Lorton]

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