Post-Mortem Photography

[skwerl-hat]

http://www.boatswain.nl/index.html
i found a link with more pictures of this type.
It must have been a tough life in those days when most or many of the children would die so young.

 

[Nashoba]

When my father-in law died in october of last year, my sister-in-law very much wanted a picture of her father at the viewing but was afraid to take one or ask one of us to take one for fear of what people might think. When a neighbor came up and asked if he could take a photograph she was both relieved and grateful and readily gave permission. I found it interesting that my father also had his digital audio recorder and quietly recorded the entire service, asking me afterwards to feel out my inlaws as to whether or not they would have wanted something like that done and see if they wanted a copy. When I brought it up they were again surprised but very grateful that he had recorded it and quickly asked for copies. My father's reason partly revolved around the fact that I sang "Nearer my God to Thee" and "God Be With you Till We Meet Again" but I think it really helped my sister-in-law in particular to find some closure.
When my cousin died at 2 months old, they took a picture similar to what's already been described and I know it helped my aunt.

 

[Big Man]

This is a picture of my great grandmother's wake taken in December, 1928. On the back of the photo is written "momma's casket".

 

[Pilgrim]

I think Miss Queenie is on target.

In today's society, we avoid and deny death. We no longer live with animals that we slaughter in order for us to eat. 80 years ago it was common for kids to deal with death on a daily basis as part of their family's food supply. And hunting was a common way to augment that food supply - complete with the butchering process.

Now steaks come on styrofoam plates, and are neatly colored to be attractive. the link with life and death that came through our food supply is gone for most people.

Relatives who pass away no longer are viewed in their homes, but in funeral homes. They are taken away from their death site within an hour or so of the event, and we only see them for a brief viewing - if at all. Many people in their 20's have never seen a dead person.

Combined with this, boomers (like me) think they'll never really get old. When their friends and contemporaries start to pass away of old age rather than incidental diseases, the message will come closer to home.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

I haven't really seen any of these pictures before. I think I don't really like them because in my religion we don't view the body before it is buried. We sit and mourn, but not in front of an open casket.
It's just my opinion, and probably due to the way I was raised, but I'm really not a fan of them.
After my grandfather passed away, my family and I sat in a room with him for hours before the rabbi could come and prepare him for his journey. This didn't bother me. He looked so peaceful and calm, and I was glad that I was with him for that. But, it took me a long time to get that picture out of my head, and remember him as the man he was before he became ill.
There is a very beautiful ceremony when placing a Jewish person into a casket, but it is not done in front of the family.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

We've grown culturally squeamish in the face of death.

In our youthful, long-living and health-obsessed culture, death is particularly taboo -- one of the last major aversions that we have. It's gone from ritualized to (as Miss Queenie put it) sanitized.


One of the most liberating books I've ever read: From Death to Dust: What Happens to Dead Bodies. In a straightforward and sensitive way, the author cleared up dozens of mysteries, replacing my fear and disgust with knowledge and acceptance. From Death to Dust left me feeling more revolted by the practices of some mortuaries than by decomposition itself.


.

 

[Michaelson]

Having once worked in a funeral home, it was interesting to observe how folks dealt with grief. It has changed in less than a generation or two, as keeping the dead close to home until the burial was considered the norm. In the past, there were no State or Federal laws concerning the handling and 'disposal' of the dead, so families had to do the job themselves. If you'll recall, many different cultures were in the U. S. and brought with them multitude of past practice and tradition regarding the dead. Many believed you could NOT bury anyone until at least a week had passed, as you had to allow time for distant family members to travel to the home of the deceased. Many had to be stored on ice in winter, as there was no way to dig a grave, so sometimes the deceased was around for months before final rites. If it was summer, a photograph was the ONLY way for family members to prove a death, as they HAD to get the body in the ground just as quickly as possible.

Many Victorian homes had small doors at the side of the house NEXT to the front porch. They were called 'Doors of the dead', and ONLY used to pass coffins through after the family viewing and wake, as it was thought to be bad luck for a coffin to pass through a door or window used by the living, hence the 'door of the dead' was built into the home design 'just to be ready' for the inevidible. More than one ower of these homes still believe these were delivery doors for ice or coal delivery, but it hasn't occured to them that those doors are either at the back of the house into the kitchen, or lead into the basement...NOT by the front porch leading into the living room.

So, the reasons for these photographs were many.

What I REALLY find astounding is the price these photos demand in the collectors market. I found one in Lebannon, TN recently in a collection of old photos that was priced for over $90! Everything else in the box was in the $2 range. Photos of adults stay in the range of the mentioned $90, but photos of children (depending on setting) can demand as high as $300 and more! If you can find an honest to gosh family 'Book of the Dead' (yes, they really DID exist, and were full of tin types of generations of dead family photographs. Now THAT is a bit 'chilling'...instead of pulling out slides of last summer's vacation...let's look at the book full of the dead family members!), they command many THOUSANDS of dollars, and are kept in VERY high end private collections.

Some hobbies are definitely 'different' than others.[huh]

Regards! Michaelson

 

[mikepara]

Seems strange...

for some people To find this odd, macabre or such like, and only something the olden day folks did.

When I was first to be sent to Ulster in the bad old days we were shown multiple photos of blown up bodies, shot soldiers, terrorists and civilians most on the slab. It was my ambition not to end up on that slideshow. It still is.

So much of the web now is full of sites chockabloc with real sickening actual suicide, murder and accident photos.

Multiple sites with beheading videos, 9/11 etc.

Even 'You Tube' is full of Our troops killing or getting killed.

I think we like to hide behind a thin veneer of disgust. Whilst in reality we are all very aware of the reaper waiting in the wings.

Hell! Even our Movie or TV entertainment is full of pretend murder, driveby shootings or CSI type stuff...just incase you can't get enough of the real deal.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

In Chile, where family members and friends tend to live near each other for a lifetime, there is no tradition of embalming. I was in Santiago when my godfather's dad died of old age -- at home and in bed. Right after he passed away, I received word and went to the house, where I helped to dress the body in a suit and tie. My godfather called a local funeral business, whose representatives arrived within an hour with a casket and a stand. They set up the stand and casket (which had a small viewing window at the top) in the living room, and placed the body inside. Friends and family were called and showed up throughout the night; candles were lit and prayers and condolences were said around the coffin. The next evening, the funeral home returned to pick up the casket and remains, taking them to the church. The day after that was the funeral. No embalming and no lying-in-state at a funeral parlor.


Around 1900, Chile had the highest per capita rate of infant mortality in the world. Many thousands of postmortem photos of infants were taken. In the early 1980s, Chile suffered a severe economic recession; sellers from Europe, Japan and the U.S.A. descended upon the country and bought up thousands of vintage postmortem photos for pennies.


.

 

[Michaelson]

...... suffered a severe economic recession; sellers from Europe, Japan and the U.S.A. descended upon the country and bought up thousands of vintage postmortem photos for pennies.


.

....then sold them on the open market for hundreds of dollars. Capitalism at it's finest.

Reminds me of the jewelers during our Depression of the 30's who traveled through the countryside and bought up gold watch cases and gold jewelry for next to nothing.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[GeniusInTheLamp]

I haven't come across any of those in my family search yet, but I have seen something similar in a photo album that my grandfather's cousin had.

It shows a casket covered with flowers. Standing over the casket is the deceased, as he was photographed in life. The person in question was my great-grandfather's brother, who died in 1897. Apparently, this was also not uncommon.

 

[indyjim]

Our family photo archives holds a photo of a man in his coffin, probably taken in the early 1900's. We have still not been able to identify him. Fascinating photo.
I once used it in a still life photo I made, along with several other items, to make a statement about death. My own father passed in March and I made several
photographs of him in his coffin, while in the funeral home.