Search results
Jun 4, 2016 · By Bethan Bell. Photographs of loved ones taken after they died may seem morbid to modern sensibilities. But in Victorian England, they became a way of commemorating the dead and blunting the ...
Nov 10, 2021 · In the nineteenth century, photographers were often called upon to do postmortem photography, capturing the stillness of the final moment. As Victorian-literature scholar Nancy M. West writes, “people were more willing to pay a few dollars for a daguerreotype that memorialized a loved one’s death than they were to commemorate a marriage or ...
Oct 20, 2014 · The invention of the daguerreotype in 1839 opened new doors for people who wanted to capture their happiest memories—and hardest goodbyes. Grieving families soon took up the new technology to create everlasting mementos of the dearly departed. Known as post-mortem photography, these haunting shots where produced shortly after passing.
Jul 19, 2017 · As it did, the aspirations for postmortem photos also rose. By the 1860s, death photos began explicit attempts to animate the corpse. Dead bodies sit in chairs, posed in the act of playing or reading.
Oct 27, 2017 · Pupils would be painted onto the photos to bring “life” back to the dead corpse, which had to be photographed within 24 hours of death before decomposition started to creep in.
For many today, the Victorian tradition of post-mortem photography may seem like a gruesome and unsettling gothic custom. But for our ancestors who lived during those times, it was a commonly accepted practice, done with love, dignity and respect. It also afforded years of lasting personal memories.
Browse Getty Images’ premium collection of high-quality, authentic Juliet Weber stock photos, royalty-free images, and pictures. Juliet Weber stock photos are available in a variety of sizes and formats to fit your needs.
