photos of the dead

[pdust]

i watched a film last night and an old man had framed photos of relatives who had passed away on his sideboard...... the film was modern but the photos were old ones.... ive seen it before and i think it was popular round victorian times (though i may be wrong)

i find it really freaky.... especially when they put the person in their erm natural habitat so to speak.... i cant imagine anything worse than having a photo of my mam/nans/grandads etc taken after they were dead. I can just about understand having photos of babies, i know photography wasnt as simple as it is these days and if babies were stillborn or passed away just after birth then i kind of understand that but not the other people

would you feel comfortable having photos of dead relatives? why on earth did they do it? was it just a fashionable thing?

[China Doll]

I don't think I would find it comfortable but I do find the photo albums of the dead fascinating and would love to see a real one, (I have a morbid streak!) I've no idea why they do it though.

[RATTER15]

I think it a little strange to be honest but also I dont see it as being freaky.

My niece lost her baby at 9 months, she had the baby brought home in a coffin, one day she wrapped the baby in blankets and went for a walk along the beach with the baby in her arms with her husband and her other children. That is a little unusual but I suppose its an indication of the mental anguish she was suffering at the time.

[pdust]

yeah i find it fascinating too (hence asking lol) i think ive seen it mainly in horror films (this one was a zombie film) and i just had a google and theres tons of pics..... i think i would look at a proper album out of morbid curiosity but i think someone else would have to turn the pages...not sure i would want to touch it *shudder*....

i couldnt really find info on why they did it, i just saw pics..... i wasnt sure if it was a tradition or a superstition or just fashionable at the time....

[Kiki-frog]

pdust, yes it was popular in Victorian times, especially if the family didn't have any other photos of the deceased. I've got a few family pics from Victorian times, taken after the person's death, and open eyes were painted on the prints by the photographer. Macabre, but fascinating.

[pdust]

oh thats so sad ratter (the baby dying not what they did) and i too find it unusual. Ive heard about similar before and always think 'oooh i couldnt do that' but i guess unless it happens to you yourself you wouldnt know what you would do ...

but to put someone say behind his desk in his office and make him look 'alive' is freaky to me....

[rowanwitch]

google images victorian post mortem photos the ones of dead children are reallly sad...

[pdust]

thanks kiki.... i thought it might be a little to do with not having pics etc ...i didnt realise they painted the eyes on though....

[pdust]

i had a quick google before posting rowan and found quite a few with a dead baby or child surrounded by the other kids in the family.... for some reason i couldnt actually tell most of the little uns had passed away... not like you can with a lot of the adult ones....

[jno]

nobody's ever passed away on my sideboard.

[Kiki-frog]

We've got quite a few with painted on eyes, so I think it must have been quite common - or maybe my family are just weirdos. But they were definitely done because there was no photos of them taken while alive. I think when photography became fashionable families liked to have at least one photo of every family member.

[Mosaic]

Wasn't this one of the threads in the movie 'the Others'?

[woofgang]

different eras and countries have different customs. In the US "viewing" is more common. currently in the Uk funerals seem to be following the weddings trend in becoming more elaborate and planned.

[Robinia]

Oh dearie me nooo...I'm almost phobic about death so I wouldn't want photos of the deceased.

lol jno

[mccfluff]

i remember a lady at work showing us photos pf her mums funeral and pictures of her in the casket. I thought that was odd

[rowanwitch]

Jamaican colleague flashed the photos too she said it was normal to do this so those who couldn't get home for the funeral could see it was 'done properly'

[woofgang]

We took some photos at my Mum's funeral, not of her but of the casket in the hearse (barbie pink hearse and wicker casket with white flowers and green leaves) Not my style at all but what she wanted. Some of the family couldn't be there and she would have wanted them to share the day.

[smilingcrow]

When we as the human race can accept that there is nothing taboo/ scary/ un natural about death then it is not weird at all. I dont mind looking looking at the deceased thinking one day I will be like that. It provokes many thoughts about spirituality and what will be. I dont think there is anything wrong with it. When I think about my mum who passed away part of the process invariably is seeing her when she was in the morgue. Its jsut a natural part of life. Nothing freaky about it at all.

[whiskeryron]

jno, isn't it time you got yourself a more comfortable sideboard ?

[jno]

nothing wrong with my sideboard, people sit on it for days on end without dying.

The loo, on the other hand...

[rowanwitch]

A few have died in my bed