Postmortem Photography
- Sep 4, 2020
- 1 min read
Updated: Oct 15, 2020
Ever since photography's first introduction in 1839, people sought to preserve the memory of their loved ones through this new technology. Photography at the time was still quite expensive, so most families could not afford to regularly take photos of family members. Instead, photography was reserved for special occasions- and in some cases, that occasion would be the someone's unfortunate passing.
Corpses would be dressed, their hair fixed, and eyes opened through painting on the photographs after the shot. People would be carefully arranged to look as if they were peacefully sleeping, or resting against a living loved one. Memento Mori motifs would sometimes be included in the image, resulting in a somber, but carefully crafted final portrait immortalizing a gentle moment before bidding someone goodbye.
There is, however, a common misconception when reviewing these old Victorian photographs. Many images are purported to be postmortem photography- but actually depict living subjects. Posing stands did in fact exist for the use of living people- the presence of a pose stand does not indicate that the individual in the image is dead. Exposure time in the 1850s could be periods of 2-8 seconds of standing, so if one didn't stand exactly still- the final image could come out blurred. Pose stands aided in, well, posing, and plenty of records exist indicating their use in helping perfect the photography of the living.
A warning: the sources do contain images of recently deceased.
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