The genre of post-mortem photography was very popular in the 19th century, when a camera was still a rare and expensive pleasure (so for many, a post-mortem photograph was the first and only). To take a photograph, you had to pose for a long time next to the deceased, who, by the way, was most often seated in the frame as if he were alive. This seems strange, but think about it: a posthumous photograph of a loved one is the only thing his family had left as a memory of him.
15. For some people, a post-mortem photograph was their first and only
Of course, first of all, the relatives wanted to keep something in memory of the deceased. Now we don’t have such a need: we take a lot of photographs and shoot videos. And then people did not have such an opportunity, so they saved up so that, even after death, they could take a photograph of their beloved relative as a keepsake and put it in the family album. Most often, inconsolable mothers ordered photographs of their deceased children.
14. To take a photo, you had to pose for a long time in front of the camera lens
At that time, one photograph took from 30 seconds to 15 minutes, and all this time you had to sit next to the deceased without moving. It must have been difficult - for example, in this photo, the older brothers are standing next to the dead baby in a chair and the little sister is sitting on a chair next to him. Small children too.
13. The dead person in the photograph came out more clearly than the living people next to him
Due to the long exposure time, the deceased in the photograph appeared more clearly than the living people around him. Because no matter how hard they try not to move, achieving perfect stillness is impossible.
12. "Memento mori", or "Remember death"
Remember death, remember that you will die, and remember the dead. Perhaps post-mortem photographs were also a kind of reminder that all people are mortal, death is inevitable and there is no need to be afraid of it. This sounds crazy to us, but at that time such sentiments were common.
11. Post-mortem photographs often show young children.
Most often, post-mortem photographs were ordered when a child died. At that time, infant mortality was very high; there were no vaccinations or antibiotics yet, and children often died in infancy from infectious diseases. Therefore, it was customary to give birth to as many children as possible, because not everyone had a chance to survive. And women often died in childbirth, and post-mortem photographs were also taken for them.
10. The deceased were given the pose of a living person
Of course, everyone understood that the person was dead, but in the photograph he should look as alive as possible so that his relatives could remember him like that. The dead were given poses suggesting that they were busy with their favorite activity... or, at least, sleeping. The girl in this photo looks like she fell asleep while reading.
9. To pretend that the deceased was sitting, it was necessary to somehow secure him in an upright position
It is impossible to sit a dead body down straight, so someone stood behind him and supported him. Or used some kind of support mechanisms.
8. The deceased were photographed with their favorite things
The custom of placing the deceased’s favorite thing in the coffin still exists. And then, in post-mortem photographs, their favorite toys and dolls are sure to be next to the children, and their favorite book or other item that they often used is next to the adults.
7. Sometimes death overtook several people at once
Since photography was an expensive business, several people who died at one time were often combined into one photograph, so as not to spend money on a separate photograph for each. This photograph shows a mother and her triplets. Unfortunately, both the mother and two of the three children are dead, possibly due to some kind of epidemic.
6. Such photos were expensive
Post-mortem photographs were not easy to take; they required certain skills and abilities, so they were quite expensive. It was necessary to pay the photographer for the work, reagents, development and printing, and most often the family received one single photograph, which they kept like the apple of their eye.
5. They were published in newspapers
We know what an obituary in a newspaper is. Usually this short message about the death of a person, indicating the cause of death, without details, and with an expression of condolences. At a time when post-mortem photography flourished, it was common for newspapers to print more detailed obituaries with post-mortem photographs and detailed description death. Moreover, at that time there were no such methods of preserving the dead for a long time as there are now. Then they were buried as quickly as possible, and not everyone had time to come to the funeral. In such cases, a detailed obituary was useful.
4. The eyes of the deceased in the photograph were hand-painted
Sometimes it was not possible to make a dead person look alive in a photograph, and then it was modified manually by coloring his eyes. This gave such photographs an even more terrible look. The photographs were in black and white, and people often painted red and pink on the dead person's cheeks to give them life.
3. In photographs of this quality it is difficult to distinguish who is alive and who is dead
Sometimes the dead actually look just like the living in a photograph. And you can't tell the difference. In this photo, the young man on the right is apparently dead, since he is standing in a simpler pose and there is clearly something behind his back that is supporting him in an upright position. So if you immediately realized that it was him, you are right. But if you decided that the young man on the left is dead, you are also right. There is also a support stand behind it. Yes, there are two dead people in this photo.
2. Even dead pets were photographed
Pets are part of the family, and it was the same way back then. So it’s not surprising that someone took post-mortem photographs of their beloved dog or cat for a family album. This, of course, only rich people could afford.
1. Photographs were taken regardless of the circumstances of death
It didn’t matter what condition the deceased was in, the photograph was taken under any circumstances. There are many photographs of people who were burned in a fire or died from diseases that disfigured their appearance. The woman in this photo only looks like that because of cadaveric rot. It's strange that someone would want a photograph of a relative like this, but people could be in complete despair. And some photograph is better than no photograph, right?
The genre of post-mortem photography was very popular in the 19th century, when a camera was still a rare and expensive pleasure (so for many, a post-mortem photograph was the first and only). To take a photograph, you had to pose for a long time next to the deceased, who, by the way, was most often seated in the frame as if he were alive. This seems strange, but think about it: a posthumous photograph of a loved one is the only thing his family had left as a memory of him.
Of course, first of all, the relatives wanted to keep something in memory of the deceased. Now we don’t have such a need: we take a lot of photographs and shoot videos. And then people did not have such an opportunity, so they saved up so that, even after death, they could take a photograph of their beloved relative as a keepsake and put it in the family album. Most often, inconsolable mothers ordered photographs of their deceased children.
At that time, one photograph took from 30 seconds to 15 minutes, and all this time you had to sit next to the deceased without moving. It must have been difficult - for example, in this photo, the older brothers are standing next to the dead baby in a chair and the little sister is sitting on a chair next to him. Small children too.
Due to the long exposure time, the deceased in the photograph appeared more clearly than the living people around him. Because no matter how hard they try not to move, achieving perfect stillness is impossible.
12. "Memento mori", or "Remember death"
Remember death, remember that you will die, and remember the dead. Perhaps post-mortem photographs were also a kind of reminder that all people are mortal, death is inevitable and there is no need to be afraid of it. This sounds crazy to us, but at that time such sentiments were common.
Most often, post-mortem photographs were ordered when a child died. At that time, child mortality was very high; there were no vaccinations or antibiotics yet, and children often died in infancy from infectious diseases. Therefore, it was customary to give birth to as many children as possible, because not everyone had a chance to survive. And women often died in childbirth, and post-mortem photographs were also taken for them.
Of course, everyone understood that the person was dead, but in the photograph he should look as alive as possible so that his relatives could remember him like that. The dead were given poses suggesting that they were busy with their favorite activity... or, at least, sleeping. The girl in this photo looks like she fell asleep while reading.
It is impossible to sit a dead body down straight, so someone stood behind him and supported him. Or used some kind of support mechanisms.
The custom of placing the deceased’s favorite thing in the coffin still exists. And then, in post-mortem photographs, their favorite toys and dolls are sure to be next to the children, and their favorite book or other item that they often used is next to the adults.
Since photography was an expensive business, several people who died at one time were often combined into one photograph, so as not to spend money on a separate photograph for each. This photograph shows a mother and her triplets. Unfortunately, both the mother and two of the three children are dead, possibly due to some kind of epidemic.
Post-mortem photographs were not easy to take; they required certain skills and abilities, so they were quite expensive. It was necessary to pay the photographer for the work, reagents, development and printing, and most often the family received one single photograph, which they kept like the apple of their eye.
We know what an obituary in a newspaper is. This is usually a short message about the death of a person, indicating the cause of death, without details, and expressing condolences. In the days when post-mortem photography flourished, it was common to print more detailed obituaries in newspapers with post-mortem photographs and a detailed description of the death. Moreover, at that time there were no such methods of preserving the dead for a long time as there are now. Then they were buried as quickly as possible, and not everyone had time to come to the funeral. In such cases, a detailed obituary was useful.
Sometimes it was not possible to make a dead person look alive in a photograph, and then it was modified manually by coloring his eyes. This gave such photographs an even more terrible look. The photographs were in black and white, and people often painted red and pink on the dead person's cheeks to give them life.
Sometimes the dead actually look just like the living in a photograph. And you can't tell the difference. In this photo, the young man on the right is apparently dead, since he is standing in a simpler pose and there is clearly something behind his back that is supporting him in an upright position. So if you immediately realized that it was him, you are right. But if you decided that the young man on the left is dead, you are also right. There is also a support stand behind it. Yes, there are two dead people in this photo.
Pets are part of the family, and it was the same way back then. So it’s not surprising that someone took post-mortem photographs of their beloved dog or cat for a family album. This, of course, only rich people could afford.
It didn’t matter what condition the deceased was in, the photograph was taken under any circumstances. There are many photographs of people who were burned in a fire or died from diseases that disfigured their appearance. The woman in this photo only looks like that because of cadaveric rot. It's strange that someone would want a photograph of a relative like this, but people could be in complete despair. And some photograph is better than no photograph, right?
Remember “The Others” with Nicole Kidman, that episode where she looks at photographs of dead people? This is not the director’s fantasy at all. The tradition of taking postmortem photographs (postmortem), often opening the eyes of the dead and sitting them in poses familiar to the living, existed for quite a long time. It was believed that it was in posthumous photography that the soul of the deceased would now live. Postmortems are rarely shown to outsiders, but they exist, and their number numbers in the thousands...
Horrible! Not at all. For a long time, plaster masks were removed from the dead and portraits were made. Of course, this was not available to everyone. In 1839, Louis Daguerre invented the daguerreotype, which were small photographs on polished silver. Not very rich people could afford a daguerreotype, but only once, namely after death...
The tradition of post-mortem photographs developed in Victorian England, from there it spread to the USA and other countries, including Russia....
Exist different kinds postmortems. In most post-mortem photographs victorian era the deceased is depicted sleeping peacefully...
Photographs of dead children were especially precious to parents because they were rarely taken or not taken at all during their lifetime. And so the parents at least had something left...
Many of them were seated and surrounded by toys so that they looked like living children...
Often brothers and sisters posed with the deceased child...
And the parents posed very often...
Multiple prints could be made from a single negative, so families could send the photograph to other relatives.
Such photographs were considered memorial gifts rather than disturbing reminders of a recent death.
Today there are a large number of ever-growing collections of post-mortem photographs from the Victorian era. Thomas Harris, a New York collector, explains his passion this way. “They (the photographs) calm you down and make you think about the priceless gift of life”...
One of the most famous collections of post-mortem photography is the Burns Archive. In total it contains more than four thousand photographs. Photos from this archive were used in the film “The Others”...
Then no one was afraid of such photos, they did not repel anyone, even very young children were not afraid not only of the photo, but also of the deceased relatives themselves...
There was a custom to photograph a deceased woman and cut off a lock of her hair. This photograph, along with the lock of hair, was placed in a medallion and worn on the chest. The photographs were taken in the house where the deceased lay, in funeral home and to the cemetery...
IN Lately post-mortem photography is considered difficult to perceive. They try to avoid such pictures...
Nowadays, photographing the dead is often perceived as a strange Victorian custom, but it was and remains an important, if not recognized, phenomenon of life, and not only in American life...
Along with headstones, funeral cards and other images of death, these photographs represent a way in which people have tried to preserve their shadows, their memories...
Thus, Americans take and use photographs of deceased relatives and friends in spite of public opinion about the inappropriateness of such photographs...
Post-mortem photography continues to interest people, including criminal investigators...
Especially a lot of children's photographs. This is explained, in particular, by the very high infant mortality rate in those years...
Already in the 20-30s of the 20th century, scientists began to study the phenomenon of post-mortem photographs. Then the expression “photography is a little death” appeared. With a click of the camera, the photographer seemed to kill a moment and at the same time make it eternally alive...
This is how the dead remained forever alive on the cards, who were filmed in their usual surroundings - reading newspapers, in their favorite chair, with friends and family. The bravest ones even took pictures of the dead looking in the mirror. This is brave! But I haven't seen such photos...
A series of such photographs formed a book of the dead. During the days of epidemics, entire family albums were collected in these gloomy books. For relatives, these were all faces dear to the heart...
When cheap photography replaced the daguerreotype, a photographer was invited to every significant event: weddings, christenings, buying a house or car, birthdays and holidays. And the post-mortem photograph became logical conclusion in this row. But the main thing is that in this way people tried to capture the last moment loved one...
And, by the way, when relatives were asked about such photographs, they always remembered not the death of the deceased, not his torment, not their grief, but what he was like during his lifetime. We only remembered the good things...
Often postmortems appeared on tombstones...
In villages, filming has always been an event comparable in importance to a funeral. Often these two events were combined. The whole village gathered for the funeral photography...
The tradition of filming dead children continued in our country even after Patriotic War. Post-mortem photos began to disappear only in the 60s...
Almost every family in Russia had such photographs, but then they began to be destroyed, and now you can hardly find them. They tore up and threw away pictures with dead people because they no longer remembered these people, but family values, for example, the memory of the family became a thing of the past...
The external manifestation of intimacy has become more significant. That is why a unique phenomenon appeared in the Soviet Union - filming funerals. If in other countries they were limited to one or two mourning shots, then in our country they filmed the entire procession...
Nowadays photographs of a dead man have been replaced by photographs of a grave. Photographers still work in cemeteries during funerals. Although this custom is gradually dying out...
Preface to the questions, I want to say that these photos do not scare or repel me. Historians look at such things as evidence of an era. And it’s also very sad and a little touching...
Don't posthumous images of the greats scare you?.. I feel like I've upset you, okay, next time I'll make you laugh...
I don’t give links, because the topic is very popular, if you wish, you can find a lot of texts, pictures and videos...
Written
When thinking about the Victorian era, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Maybe the romantic novels of the Bronte sisters and the sentimental ones of Charles Dickens, or maybe tight ladies' corsets and even Puritanism?
But it turns out that the era of Queen Victoria’s reign left us another legacy - the fashion for post-mortem photographs of deceased people, which, when you learn about it, you will consider this period the darkest and most terrible in the history of mankind!
There are many reasons and versions of where the tradition of photographing the dead came from, and they are all closely intertwined...
And perhaps we should start with the “cult of death.” It is known that since the death of her husband, Prince Albert, in 1861, Queen Victoria has never stopped mourning. Moreover, even mandatory requirements appeared in everyday life - after the death of loved ones, women wore black clothes for another four years, and in the next four they could only wear white, gray or purple colors. Men had to wear a black bandage on their sleeve for exactly a year.
The Victorian era is the period of the highest child mortality, especially among newborns and young children school age!
The posthumous photo of the child was all that remained in the parents’ memory.
And the creation of such “sentimental” souvenirs turned into an ordinary and soulless process - dead children were dressed up, their eyes were painted and their cheeks were rosy, they were laid on the laps of all family members, placed or sat on a chair with their favorite toys.
The last girl in the “train” didn’t just blink...
Well, isn't it noticeable that someone is holding this child on their lap?
And one of these sisters is not resting either...
In general, the photographer did everything so that the dead family member in the photo would be no different from the living ones!
One of the most important reasons for the emergence of creepy post-mortem photographs in the Victorian era was the dawn of the art of photography and the invention of the daguerreotype, which made photography accessible to those who could not afford to paint a portrait, and... the opportunity to immortalize the dead.
Just think, the price of one photograph during this period cost about $7, which in today’s money reaches up to $200. And would anyone during their lifetime be able to fork out that much for just one shot? But a tribute to the deceased is sacred!
It's terrible to say, but post-mortem photos were fashion and business at the same time. Photographers have been improving their skills in this direction tirelessly.
You won’t believe it, but in order to capture the deceased standing or sitting in the frame, they even invented a special tripod!
And sometimes in post-mortem photographs it was impossible to find the dead person at all - and this in the complete absence of Photoshop... Such photographs were identified only by special marking symbols, like the hands of a clock stopped at the date of death, a broken stem of a flower, or an upside-down rose in the hands.
The heroine of this photograph, 18-year-old Ann Davidson, is already dead in the frame. It is known that she was hit by a train and only her upper body was left unharmed. But the photographer easily coped with the task - in the printed photo the girl, as if nothing had happened, is sorting through white roses...
What is terrifying is that in the post-mortem photographs next to dead child or even the eldest member of the family, everyone else alive is always smiling and looks quite cheerful!
Have these parents not yet realized that their child is dead?!?
Well, let's start from the beginning? What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the Victorian era?
It has long been customary to see numerous portraits of deceased ancestors in the homes of grandmothers and older relatives. It was not considered objectionable or dangerous. However, now any step associated with death carries many interpretations, often opposing ones. Therefore, opinions on whether it is possible to keep photos of recently deceased people in the house vary. And which one to choose and which one to ignore, each person decides for himself.
Photo for funeral
For the funeral procession, you need to choose a photo that both the deceased and his relatives liked. This portrait can be framed and taken home after the funeral, where it will remain until the end of 40 days after death. After this, the portrait can be removed, given to relatives or placed in the room of the deceased.
Bureaux that provide assistance in organizing funerals often offer the service of laminating photos with a special coating that will protect it from rapid fading, damage by wind and excess moisture. Such a portrait can be placed on the cross as a temporary one until the monument is erected.
Photos of the deceased at home - different points of view
- Opinions of clergy
Christian priests consider any superstition a sin, and insist that a photograph of the deceased cannot be dangerous and bring harm to the living. If this was a loved and revered person, you want to keep a reminder of him not only in photo albums, but also to see him constantly. Portrait collages or photos of ancestors make you more often remember deceased relatives and pray for the repose of their souls, so they can be placed on walls, in photo albums or chests of drawers without fear.
- Psychologists' opinions
Some people experience the death of loved ones so hard that any reminder of this leads to even greater suffering. Often this condition is accompanied by depression, and disappears only after sufficient time. Psychologists recommend removing photos until the moment when a person comes to terms with the loss and begins to slowly come back to life. After this, the portrait of the deceased can be returned to its place;
- Healers' opinions
From the point of view of extrasensory perception, a photo of the deceased is a kind of portal to another world, therefore portraits, especially of the deceased violent death or who have committed suicide are unwelcome in the home. Photos taken directly at the funeral are also not welcome. They are not stored, and, if possible, burned.
Photo storage rules
When stored in paper form, the photo is placed in a box or any other archive protected from sunlight, moisture and dust. However, all portrait photographs, even when coated with a laminating compound, fade and lose clarity over time. In order not to lose this visual memory of a loved one, they recommend scanning photos and transferring them to modern media such as flash cards, hard drives, including removable ones.
