Photography (Postmortem)

Who?- Europeans and Americans who were wealthy until photography became more accessible.

What?- Photographs taken of deceased loved ones as a way to celebrate the person’s life and was essentially thought of as maintaining a sense life after death in children and adults alike. In a time where there was a high mortality rate, postmortem photography was a way for the families to pay their respect to the dead or “beautiful corpses” as it was often called and honor their loved one.

When?- The tradition of photography predated photography and with the invention of the daguerreotype in 1839, photography was on the rise. The first postmortem photograph was taken in 1841 that filled a memorial void that other forms such as paintings could not.

Where?- Photographers made house calls to take the pictures because people died at home rather than in the hospital. Americans displayed their photos in mantels or private while Europeans framed their photos.

Why?- Photographs were more taken of the dead than the deceased because death was more frequent during those times which means people were less repulsed by it. Photographs were taken of their loved ones before their burial and were sometimes the first and only photograph ever taken of them. The photographs often brought the family together and served as a mourning photo which helped the family during their time of grief especially for children and infants.

How– The biggest question of them all is how did the photographers take the photos aside from the family centered photos? Towards the turn of the century, photographers began pose their deceased loved ones especially children for photos by fixing their hair and dressing them up. Certain objects were placed into the picture to symbolize their life and certain poses were chosen such as toys surrounding the child or the deceased standing or sitting. Rather than present the death as if they were dead, they attempted to make them appear alive.