Postmortem photography

[Rondette]

I am reading this thread and suddenly realised that The Cure's 'Pictures of You'
is playing!! Strangely inappropriate.


eta: I'm working late, I'm in the building by myself and I could only bring myself to look at a few pics, they are so sad and not good to look at at this time of night..

[suhani]

^they are really sad, esp the little children...

[Str8_uncut-jock]

This thread really took me back a few years. I'm 34 now and my father passed when I was 8. I remember vividly standing next to my fathers casket in my living room. My mother took my picture with my dad as he lay there. It was a terrible day for me and I still can't bring myself to look at that photo. I skim past it quickly every time my mom brings out the photo album. Maybe someday I'll appreciate the photo, but right now I'm not there. These pictures break my heart for the families...I would rather remember the good times we had, not the vision of him lying lifeless in a cold casket in my living room.

[sweetness]

^^ I'm so sorry.

[MrsMarsters]

Yes, the one on page 4? With the baby girl is quite sad...I didn't find it creepy at all actually...and it's really beautiful in a morbid...way..my mom actually has pictures of her grandmother/grandpa in their coffins...I always thought it was damn creepy...and hid the pictures for a long time lol..because it creeped me out.

[Palermo]

Originally Posted by effie2

Need i say i didnt click and i wont?
I hate it that after you die they can do whatever with you just because..

Amen Effie, I totally agree.

[spinmonkey]

This one tore me up...so innocent.

This has been a common tradition in my family. I remember the older relatives bringing out the photos when I was younger and I also have photos of both my grandparents from their funerals which were in the past three years. I was also told that the photos were exchanged amongst family who had immigrated here from other countries....I guess in way to keep the family close. My grandparents were from Germany and Ireland. When someone died, they would send the photos back to the "old country".

[OCD]

I found out about this tradition about 5 years ago, and got a little obsessed with it, I couldn't understand it. Now I guess I'm desensitized, and I sort of think it's neat when you think of it in terms of the times. They rarely had photos of anyone back then, and with tiny ones it would maybe be the only way for the parents to "remember" them clearly.

The most horrifying montage I've ever seen well there are two, one was an entire family shot to death and laid out like piano keys on top of a quilt and photographed, and the other was a small child that had severely sunken eyes.

I couldn't sleep right for months when I was researching this, and I now present a treat for those that are so inclined- the largets post mortem photo database in the world: Thanatos.net / The Thanatos Archive / Post Mortem Mourning Photography If you are like me you will savor these, and potentially go through a heavy period where you will view life through a more fragile lens, and ponder thoughts before unthunk. Beware.

The boy in the photo that was taken through his window- I remember this photo distinctly from a website that had backstories to some of them, and in this one what happened was he died of a horribly deadly contagious illness and the photographer would NOT go inside. So they laid him next to a large window, swung it open and CHEESE.

[Sarzy]

I'm wondering WHY I decided to look at this thread right before going to bed. Some of the photos look very peaceful, but that one of the boy in the window freaked me out!

[deadsexy]

It seems people felt differently about death back in those times.......They accepted it as part of life, they didn't have the luxery of free time to grieve, they were to busy surviving day to day. The society we've created with all the conveniences is actually a disservice to the future generations.

[suhani]

^ why?