Ambiguity

At times, it's unclear whether an antique photograph depicts someone post-mortem. This is one such example. Judging from the somber expressions and the all black dress, I suspect that the baby is deceased. The baby is also "set-off" from the rest of the family with white dress. Whatever the case, a striking photograph.

Memorial Cabinet Card; Curious Evil-Eyed Woman

This is a memorial cabinet card, very common in the era. This particular image is curious though. When this woman died didn't her relatives have a picture of her in which she did not look so evil? By the cabinet card era, getting your photo taken was no longer expensive, and this woman looks like she's old enough to have had at least a few pictures taken of herself. If this was the best pic they could find, I wonder what the other photos looked like?

Post-Mortem South Dakotan

Haven't been buying hardly a thing in this bad economy, but couldn't resist purchasing this turn-of-the-century South Dakotan woman, post-mortem in coffin. I liked this piece because of the clarity of the photography (i.e. great contrast) and also because the full coffin is shown. As I've collected post-mortem photography, I've been most drawn to pieces that are very clearly post-mortem. It's less enjoyable to collect pieces when you have to "guess" whether the person was just photographed stiffly or whether the person is truly post-mortem. It was difficult, but I just resisted making a terribly corny joke right there.

Farewell to a Brother

This turn-of-the-century photo features two sisters posing with the casket of their deceased brother. The sisters' expressions look sincerely pained, not as stoic as many from the period. I find that the faces of people in post-mortem photos are usually much more blank than these. I see genuine pain here. I would attribute the usual blank face to the formality of the photography process in an age before snapshots, and the fact that infant mortality was much higher and death was so much more par-for-the-course. Perhaps these young souls were more affected, because they hadn't seen it over and over again like some of their elders. A Bit of History: These sisters were named Sturgill from Ashe, North Carolina. To the right is Gracie Sturgill and to the left is Ola (Oklahoma) Sturgill. The deceased brother's name was Mathes. These names were written on the backside of the frame, and their state of residence was found by typing in their names on an ancestry website. It's amazing, the information you can find on the basis of so little information. This photo is done in a charcoal style that was only popular for a brief period during the turn-of-the-century. It makes the photo look more like art than photography. I was once told what this process is called, but I've since forgot. If anyone knows, please post it in a comment. The size is 16 x 20 including the ornate frame. I find the size of the piece to be quite unusual-- it's strange to imagine this large piece hanging in someone's house, a constant reminder of what's been lost. It looks as if it was meant to hang over a mantel, right in the center of the family's living space.

Sleeping Beauty

Previously, I featured a photograph of a deceased gentlemen in convex/bubble glass and frame. This example of post-mortem photography mirrors the previous gentlemen in presentation, but this time it's a young girl of maybe five or six years old. The girl looks almost as if she is sleeping and, in fact, children were often posed that way to make them look more alive. In 1990, the Stanley Burns Archive released a book on post-mortem photography called "Sleeping Beauty," whose title evokes the manner of pose. I find this photo both artistically beauitful and substantively unsettling.

The Dead Man in the Antique Store

As I've mentioned, post-mortem photography subjects were most often children and infants. Sometimes, though, the subjects were deceased adults. The item shown above is a turn-of-the-century post-mortem photograph of a deceased gentleman in convex bubble glass and frame. I found this memorial piece in a small antique shop near Green Bay, WI, and had to have it. Nothing is known in regards to the man's identity. When I find pieces like this, I often wonder how they wound up in a thrift store or antique shop. Was there not even one descendant of this man who could pass this down? I don't want children, but I would like to think there's someone in my family line that I could entrust to pass down a piece like this. It makes me sad that the piece isn't being cherished, but at the same time, I am happy that I have the piece and will care for it. Then again, who knows? Maybe this guy was a real prick.

Photograph of Deceased Child in Memorial Frame

Perhaps the most controversial genre I collect is post-mortem photography. The unsuspecting who come to my apartment and see an item such as the one shown above...well, let's just say people seem to find it somehow "inappropriate." I'm not sure what's so inappropriate about post-mortem photography. Perhaps, the people who have that reaction don't understand it. Perhaps, the notion of a dead child is just too disturbing for them to bear. It points to our own fragility as mortals-- even children can die-- none of us are safe. Perhaps, people then were more comfortable with death-- it wasn't as taboo-- because mortality rates were higher.

In the 1840's when people began getting their photographs taken, it was an expensive affair. People took it very seriously, as such, and were very formal in their poses, expressions, and dress. Many people would only afford to have one photo taken of themselves in their lifetimes. In the case of children and infants with high mortality rates, parents often had no photographs of them from before they died. This is very different from today, when parents can begin taking hundreds of digital photographs as soon as the slimy, little thing emerges from the birth canal. Given the lack of photographs taken in life, parents in the 19th century began having their children's photographs taken in death. Adult post-mortem photographs were also taken, but this was less common. The photographs would serve as a memorial to their loved ones. Something to remember them by.