I've started collecting post-mortem photographs, like this one from the 1910s, it's hand tinted, you can see the brush strokes on the photo, I purchased it yesterday, it's really big too! kind of eerie, I know, but none the less extremely fascinating... she looks so pretty and at ease...
There was a time, in the not too distant past, that death was something closer to home. Post-mortem photos were often the only photos of the deceased in that time when a photograph could be a real luxury. The deceased would be laid out in the home or funeral parlor and the photographer would visit to pay his last respects and take that final photograph. They were kept to remember and sent to relatives that could not make the long hard trip to attend the funeral. As home photography became practical and affordable post-mortem photographs lost favor and went out of style.
1 comment:
Hiya. Maybe not so weird. Somehow I ended up following this bread crumb trail by way of Google search this evening and I 2 am finding the postmortem photo trend of the late 19th and early 20th century quite fascinating in a weird way. Especially those where other family members were required to pose with the deceased. Especially children. One can only imagine what might have been going through their little heads at that time.
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