Taking photographs of dead family members became popular in the 19th century, and appealed to those who wanted a memento of their relative (typically a child). It was not considered macabre, but faded from popularity probably after widespread use of affordable cameras allowed people to have photographs taken during life to serve the same purpose.
"As the common practice of post-mortem photography in North America and Western Europe has largely ceased, the portrayal of such images has become increasing seen as vulgar, sensationalistic and taboo. This is in marked contrast to the rather beautiful and sensitive presentation of its origins and may represent a cultural shift and wider social discomfort with death..."Pix above found at Mr. Fox, via ofellabuta.
Those aren't real post-mortem photos, you know. They are from the movie "A Haunting in Connecticut."
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that re the provenance. Do you know if the movie producers created the photos or used real postmortem photos?
ReplyDeleteI doubt these were authentic post mortem photos. Given the movie source. But, also, the clothing styles are way too modern for them to have been taken in the 19th century. I would guess they were either taken in the late 1920s to late 1930s. They were probably made especially for the movie.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean to mislead you with my opening sentence. When I said that postmortem photography became popular in the 19th century, I didn't mean to imply that such was the date for the photo below. I think the embedded photo shows clothing and room decor from the 1930s, when postmortem photography was still in vogue.
ReplyDeleteWhether that particular photo is valid or created for the movie is still a unanswered question.
Some of the pics used during the movie's opening titles are real, those two are not. They are to crisp, the sepia tone is all wrong, the clothing to new and sharp seamed, too well posed...
ReplyDeleteThe photos are authentic. This practice was used to send photos to Europe , after the person came here to US to reside and then passed in US. It was done for the proof of the death.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely NOT authentic! One has to be a TOTAL moron with no antique photography background whatsoever to claim those images as authentic! Lmao
ReplyDelete