Post-Mortem Photography

[Shiftkitty]

Have you ever looked at post-mortem photography to see if you recognize yourself or someone else? I saw one picture that I have to go back and look for. It shows a young blonde man laying in his coffin. He looks so relaxed and comfortable. What startled me was how comfortable I felt looking at this particular photograph and the fact that I kind of recognized the background, like I'd been there before. I have to find it again, as I said, and study it some more, but I wondered if anybody ever checked the post-mortems out?

 

[Kristopher]

That would freak me out. I hate stuff like that.

 

[dr_what]

i like post mortem photography. it's haunting, beautiful, disturbing, and creepy all at once, and i cant help but look at it. i dont think i've ever seen my past self in a post mortem photo tho.

 

[Raptor95]

Wow


I have never heard of such pictures, except for in the movie "Others" with Nichole Kidman. Do you actually find them online? I am intrigued but at the same time not sure if I would be comfy seeing that. Maybe at a later date if the cat kills the curiosity.

 

[Nightrain]

Back in the early days of photography, not many people were able to have photographs taken. And, the death of a loved one -- especially a child -- often caught a family feeling shortchanged where visual memories were concerned. In addition American families in particular were often resettled and separated by great distances and post-mortem photographs were the only closure available. So, photographers offered the very valuable service of setting up the corpse in as lifelike a pose as possible. There are many such old photographs floating around, which people don't realize are of dead people.

 

[Shiftkitty]

Wow
I have never heard of such pictures, except for in the movie "Others" with Nichole Kidman. Do you actually find them online? I am intrigued but at the same time not sure if I would be comfy seeing that. Maybe at a later date if the cat kills the curiosity.

Kitty kills the curiosity, but doesn't take a picture of it:


http://www.pbase.com/gregorysullivan/post_mortem_photography


There are many other sites as well as books on the subject. Kind of creepy by today's standards, but according to a documentary associated with the movie and the documentary "A Haunting In Connecticut", it was comforting to people back then.

 

[Kristopher]

I just hate coffins! and the thought of being burried.. im getting tossed on the BBQ

 

[Shiftkitty]

I just hate coffins! and the thought of being burried.. im getting tossed on the BBQ

When I die, don't worry 'bout a coffin,


There won't be no ashes to stuff in an urn.


Just lay me out, toss on the Charcoal Lighter,


Fire me up, smell the leather burn!"


-Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, "Black Leather"


Don't know why those lyrics popped into my head...: angel:laugh:


I can look at dead people and it doesn't bother me, but I did get pretty rattled once when I was trying to find an address and found myself behind a building with a door that said "Delivery Entrance". I went in, hoping to find someone who could tell me how to find the place I was looking for. There was nobody in the first room so I went into the second room. There was still nobody, but there was a weird smell and a lot of curtained "closets". Ignoring those I started to walk towards the next room when a gust of wind from the exterior door that I had left open blew one of the curtains open.


Yeah, they had been concealing bodies awaiting preparation for funerals. LOL, the "Psycho" violins started shrieking in my head and hundreds of zombie movies flashed through my mind. I was pretty rattled. Laughing at myself, but rattled!

 

[dr_what]

I just hate coffins! and the thought of being burried.. im getting tossed on the BBQ

i think coffins are pretty. but i heard if you get creamated, your head explodes i think i'd rather be buried than have my head explode lol. plus, the thought of burning "alive" (i know you're dead, but still, the thought of it creeps me out) isnt appealing.

 

[dr_what]

Wow
I have never heard of such pictures, except for in the movie "Others" with Nichole Kidman. Do you actually find them online? I am intrigued but at the same time not sure if I would be comfy seeing that. Maybe at a later date if the cat kills the curiosity.

all you have to do is put "post mortem photography" in the search bar under google images. or "memento mori" too. the Victorians didnt mind death. they had these huge expansive garden cemeteries, and they'd have celebrations and picnics in the cemetery, some even had weddings in the cemetery. there's 1 in Louisville KY near where i live. it's really pretty w/ a swan lake, a garden area, tons of cool statue tombstones, a confederate veterans section, etc. they'd also make art out of the dead person's hair. i've seen some of those, and theyre pretty neat and creepy at the same time.

 

[Sunniva]

it's haunting, beautiful, disturbing, and creepy all at once, and i cant help but look at it.

I basically feel the same way. I am at once horrified and attracted to these photos. I've never identified with anyone in the photos though.


Somewhere I read how making these post mortem photographs could be quite traumatizing particular if there were kids involved, who were being photographed with a dead parent. Perhaps feeling absolutely horrified by these photos are a clue to a past life trauma?

 

[Kristopher]

I think yous are all nuts. The only thing I want to see dead is my dinner.

 

[ChrisR]

If I was around during those days, I don't think I would have liked a photograph of me posing with my dead child. I simply wouldn't have been able to look at it while 'pretending' that my son or daughter were alive when it was taken. I'd find it more upsetting than comforting, and I think it's disrespectful to the deceased person to be honest .... kinda like plundering their dignity.

 

[Kristopher]

If I was around during those days, I don't think I would have liked a photograph of me posing with my dead child. I simply wouldn't have been able to look at it while 'pretending' that my son or daughter were alive when it was taken. I'd find it more upsetting than comforting, and I think it's disrespectful to the deceased person to be honest .... kinda like plundering their dignity.

I agree Chris. I dont think the people in these photos would have like pictures of them dead getting passed around. However, back then, I think it would have been the families only way of staying connected with them. It is rather upsetting, I fail to see anything beautiful about it.

 

[dr_what]

If I was around during those days, I don't think I would have liked a photograph of me posing with my dead child. I simply wouldn't have been able to look at it while 'pretending' that my son or daughter were alive when it was taken. I'd find it more upsetting than comforting, and I think it's disrespectful to the deceased person to be honest .... kinda like plundering their dignity.

a lot of people even today who lose a baby take photos of them. even miscarriages, i know quite a few people who took photos of their miscarried babies (if they were far enough along). i know we have different sensibilities today, but like someone else said, back in the 1800s, photography was new and expensive, and a lot of the time it was the family's only portrait. they were usually displayed in the rooms kind of like how today we display family photos. they werent stuffy about death back in the Victorian times, i think because it was everywhere, what with the TB epidemics, the flu, smallpox, etc. so photos of dead family members and their kids didnt bother them. i'm sure it bothered them to sit next to the dead person, tho.


i think if i had lived during that time, i'm pretty much sure i'd have a photo taken of my dead family member, mainly because it was the practice back then. nowadays, i dunno. i think if i were at a funeral and i wanted a photo of my dead family member, people would have me locked in the insane asylum lol.

 

[Raptor95]

As creepy as it is nowadays, I think it was common practice back then. Today we have digital cameras even phones with cameras. So we have plenty of pictures of our family and friends if we choose to. Back then only if you commissioned a photographer would you have one. This is just my take on the subject. Interesting how time changes thoughts and traditions, some for the best and some not so much.