Weird, yet true! They are dead!

Πρόκειται για μεταθανάτιες φωτογραφίες του 19ου αι., μια πολύ διαδεδομένη και προσφιλή συνήθεια εκείνη την εποχή που ο θάνατος ήταν ένα συνήθες και οικείο γεγονός μέσα στην καθημερινότητα, με την παιδική θνησιμότητα στα ύψη και τις διάφορες λοιμώδεις αρρώστιες να θερίζουν κόσμο και κοσμάκη αδιακρίτως ηλικίας και κοινωνικού στάτους, οπότε υπήρχε και μια άλλη σχέση των ανθρώπων με τον θάνατο από ό,τι υπάρχει σήμερα. Συνεπώς η επιθυμία μιας αναμνηστικής φωτογραφίας του εκλιπόντος αγαπημένου μέλους της οικογένειας, ειδικά αν ήταν βρέφος ή παιδί, αν ήταν δυνατό ντυμένου και περιποιημένου σαν ζωντανό, ήταν μια γλυκιά παρηγοριά κι ένα όμορφο αναμνηστικό του.

Σήμερα κάτι τέτοιο προκαλεί ανατριχίλα μια και έχουμε εξοβελίσει το θάνατο από την καθημερινότητά μας ή καλύτερα υποκρινόμαστε πως τον έχουμε εξοβελίσει, οπότε μια τέτοια συνήθεια μας φαίνεται αποκρουστική, μακάβρια και ιερόσυλη. Οσοι έχετε δει την ταινία «Οι Αλλοι» με την Νικόλ Κίντμαν, θα θυμάστε ότι αυτές οι φωτογραφίες αποτελούν σημαντικό στοιχείο της πλοκής της.

Memorial postmortem photography was the common practice of taking a person’s portrait after they passed away. Since our culture now fears death more than we mourn it, these photos are seen today as macabre. But it was actually a beautiful tradition that helped families keep a small memento of the loved ones they had lost.

Death was more of an everyday occurrence in the 19th century than it is today. Infant mortality rates were terribly high, and diseases like tuberculosis, cholera and plain old infection killed many adults. In an age when hospitalization was uncommon, people died and were prepared for burial at home. Facing death often and at home meant that people were, if not less afraid of death than we are now, then at least more accustomed to it.

Memorializing a dead person in art is a custom that goes back centuries, but in the 1800s photography made post-mortem portraits available for the middle class. Though more affordable than having a portrait painted, photographs were still expensive and reserved for special occasions. In many cases, no photograph of the loved one existed before they died. Taking their portrait after death was a way to hold onto a visual remembrance.

The aim of a memorial portrait was often to make the person look as though they were still alive, only sleeping. Most of them show the deceased lying in bed, although some have them sitting up and holding flowers. A disturbing few show the deceased with their eyes open. The photographer would sometimes hand-color a rosy flush onto the person’s cheeks, and (in rare cases) even draw pupils onto closed eyelids.

Since having a photograph taken was so expensive, many people economized by posing for a family portrait at the same time. Some photographers posed the parents or siblings with the departed family member, while others show the entire family at the funeral.

Once portable cameras became affordable, snapshot photography came into vogue. Having portraits of the living made post-mortem portraits unnecessary and undesirable. At the same time, the advent of antibiotics and vaccines lowered the death rate significantly. Instead of staying at home, people began to go to the hospital before they died. When death became less of an everyday matter, it became more alien and frightening. Although the practice of post-mortem portraiture persisted into the 20th century for some notable people, today it is largely perceived as morbid and creepy. (www.electronicsinfoline.com)