Death photography

Post-mortem photo of a deceased child. Unknown photographer, around 1870

Death photography or post-mortem photography is the exposure of the deceased and the resulting photo of the dead. Photographs of the dead played an important role in the cult of the dead in the West in the late 19th century .

history

After the invention of the daguerreotype , people's mourning habits had changed: the photographs, which were inexpensive compared to paintings, were of a superior quality for their time and made it possible to remember the deceased before they decayed . Photographing dead children, in particular , became a common practice during the late Victorian Age (1860-1910), when stillbirths and child deaths in general were very common.

Since photography was still not an everyday occurrence, the post-mortem photos were often the only pictures made by children, and only on them could the entire family be seen together.

Early post-mortem photographs were often close-ups of the face or entire body , sometimes as lifelike as possible or depicting a nap . Children were often placed in a crib or seated on a chair, posed with a favorite toy, or were supported by a family member, usually their mother.

Later photographers then placed less emphasis on creating a lifelike environment and often showed the deceased in an open coffin . Flowers, such as forget-me-nots and lilies, were increasingly incorporated into the pictures.

Small photos of the deceased were often carried in medallions or hidden on the body by the relatives .

Post-mortem photography, widespread in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, first declined in Northern Europe and the United States between 1940 and 1960, and then almost completely disappeared. However, it was able to last longer in more Catholic-dominated regions.

literature

• Katharina Sykora : The deaths of photography. Volume 1: Photography of the dead and its social use , Wilhelm Fink Verlag , Munich 2009, ISBN 3-7705-4915-5 .

Web links

Commons : Photography of the Dead  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• A history of post mortem photography with examples
• The Mourning Portrait, American Daguerrorotypes
• A variety of post-mortem images, mostly 19th century

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cf. for example Katharina Sykora: Die Tode der Fotografie . Volume 1: Photography of the dead and its social use , Munich 2009.
2. ^ "The Strangest Tradition of the Victorian Era: Post-Mortem Photography." Retrieved November 16, 2014.
3. ↑ cf. about Ansel Adams: The Camera. Christian 2002. Introduction p. 12
4. ^ "The Burns Archive THE DEATH & MEMORIAL COLLECTION." Retrieved November 16, 2014.
5. ^ "The Burns Archive THE DEATH & MEMORIAL COLLECTION." Retrieved November 16, 2014.
6. ↑ Interview with post-mortem photographer Dr. Martin Kreuels , from the Federal Association for Funeral Needs, last accessed on May 10, 2020.
7. ↑ cf. for example Katharina Sykora, Die Tode der Fotografie. Volume 1: Photography of the dead and its social use, Munich 2009.