Chilling Facts About “Photography of the Dead”

Those who witnessed the death first hand in their home and loved ones for their corpses unlike the Victorians, who had to do something; Advances in medicine in the last two centuries have caused death to take place far away from us in hospitals rather than at home, and our responsibility for burial procedures has decreased.

Postmortem photography was also very popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries, especially in Europe and America, during the Victorian era when photography was just emerging. When we learn the details of this tradition, which seems disturbing when we look at it now, both sad and scared You will be surprised at what you will feel.

Death; Back then, it wasn’t as scary a concept as it is now.

In the nineteenth century, death was seen as ordinary and part of life. Death was often caught in homes rather than hospitals. your relatives and images of the people they love Because it was scarce, people preferred a photo of their dead to no photo at all.

Moreover, since photography was still a nascent field at that time, the deceased had never been no photo it was possible. Maybe they wanted this to be their first and last photo. This last and sometimes the only portrait was a way of not forgetting and commemorating an image of the deceased.

It was seen as a form of commemoration for those left behind.

To reflect their happy times and not upset those left behind. doing various make-upHe was drawn, dressed beautifully, in short, removed from the dullness of death.

It may seem disturbing when we look at it now, but the context in which they emerged should not be forgotten. Grief is a way of keeping the bond and relationship between the people they love very much alive. souvenir format These photographs, which were created in societies that see themselves as

Photographs of dead children were very common.

Looking at post-mortem photos lots of kids We can see that because at that time, many babies were caught in diseases (red, cholera, etc.) and died. For photographs, they were often placed in small cradles with flowers and toys.

Photographs involving children were called “little angels” and it was such a popular style that every photographer your own style had developed. For example, some focused on photographs such as the mother tenderly holding the deceased baby.

Families surrounding the deceased were photographed together.

Some families feel as if their deceased loved ones as if sleeping Some preferred it to be photographed, while others wanted a more “alive” look. For this, there were staged photographs of the deceased standing or sitting.

These photographs could indeed give the impression that the person was still alive. deceased person living surrounded by family He could pose.

So how could a rigid dead body appear upright and sometimes even moving?

This is perhaps one of the most curious things about the subject. photographers; belts, pulleys, levers, apparatus built into clothes, thin wires to keep eyes open, or paints to draw eyes. interesting methods they were using.

A lot of effort and precision was put into everything, from the clothes of the dead to the setting in which the photo was taken. In the image above, the young woman standing between her parents is actually dead. Behind the woman stands a booth, and this booth, hold the dead uprightChina is used.

It may sound scary to us, but for them it was a ritual of fond remembrance.

When we look at the photographs, in post-death photography, which sometimes evokes frightening and sometimes sad feelings, and which is not very common today; death, from a scary concept rather, it was turned into a good memory.

Continuing a similar tradition, it is necessary to remove the deceased from their graves once a year and leave them. by dressing up You can find our content about the Torajan people, whose photographs were taken, below.

Dead photography is even made into movies.

The film named Post Mortem, which was nominated for Hungary’s Best International Film at the 94th Oscar Awards (2022), to a haunted village and has a theme that goes back to ghosts. In the film, the “dead photography” profession of German soldier Tomás towards the end of World War I comes to the fore.