COLLECTION 6

look as alive as possible and to
have them posed with siblings or
other family members. Infants
were often positioned in cribs as
well, while for adults an arm chair
was more common. In these cases,
eyes were propped open and the
pupil was later enhanced on the
print. Sometimes, cheeks were
tinted pink to give the corpse a
more lively appearance. Of course,
there are also many pictures of the
deceased in flower filled coffins,
peacefully sleeping while surrounded
by mourners, especially in
the earlier days. As it goes with
everything, fashions also came and
went with post-mortem photography,
but the exact composition was
usually up to the photographer
and the family to decide.
When it became possible to reproduce
this photograph of the dead,
it was often sent out to relatives
and other family members as part
of the mourning and remembering
process.
Eventually, by the early 20th century,
this practice ceased as family
photos and all sorts of photos became
a part of every day life with
the arrival of the snapshot and
when personal cameras were made
available to the public.
Initially a part of life, these death
portraits were not viewed as macabre.
In the 20th century they came
to be viewed as creepy, morbid or
unspeakable because of the revulsion,
reject and lack of familiarity
with death that the modern world
brought with it. By now, still
causing shivers, they have become
an accepted method of as keeping
somebody’s image and memory,
rather than being regarded as violation
or lack of respect.
However, in a world stripped of
magic, there is one aspect that is
overlooked today, and it was a
very widespread belief in the 19th
century: people would believe that
the soul of the recently deceased
would linger around the body and
room for several days before the
burial. A portrait made during this
time acquired a special meaning.
As already mentioned, photography
film was often used during
séances or to capture auras and
other supernatural phenomena
and experiments. The sensitivity
of film and the magic of its workings
gave and still gives room
for plenty of speculation. It was
firmly believed, as it still is in many
cultures, that a photograph could
trap or at least depict a person’s
soul. And occasionally this was the
very purpose of such a picture. To
always keep the actual soul of the
depicted dead very much alive.
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