Dead photos - Victorian post-mortem photographs
Death, in Victorian England, was a grand and complicated business. There were many social rules in the classes who could afford it about mourning clothes, degrees of morning, and the length of time for which different mourning colours were to be worn.
There was also a common custom, which seems distinctly odd today, of having photographs taken of the dead - sometimes on their own, sometimes in posed family groups, but all post-mortem photos.
In some cases, especially with children, there might well have been no other photographs for the family to keep. Photographs were expensive, and complicated to take and arrange, and therefore most people didn’t have them done frequently.
But in other cases, it was part of a morbid fascination with death - the kind of behaviour that saw Queen Victoria go into black widow’s clothes for 4 decades, from the time of her husband Prince Albert’s death in 1860 until she died herself in 1901. Thus the photographs showing a young mother’s children draped over her grave or tombstone, for example.
Some of these dead photos featured the person lying down, as if asleep. In others, the person was propped up, and even had his eyes painted in after the photo was taken. In these cases, the only way you can be sure which person is definitely dead is by noting that the face is very clear - the long exposures needed meant that living people tended to blur, slightly.
There were similar photographs taken in other countries, of course- but the examples below (all out of copyright owing to their age) are English ones.
Dead child with siblings in attendance. Note the slight blur on the standing children owing to the long exposure
Dead man photographed in Sheffield, Yorkshire
Mother, father, three living children, two dead children
Post mortem photograph of a young girl, taken in Tonbridge, Kent
Fascinating!
The little girl is so pretty. Hard to believe she is not sleeping. So sad but beautiful too. Bless her.. x
Morbid, and gruesome, but fascinating (-:
You really missed the point. Your sensitivity needs fine tuning. These photos were not taken to satiate your morbid curiosity.
No, but they were certainly POSTED for that purpose. One can be fascinated to learn about a practice from long ago without being morbid.
It’s weird to see the dead children and their little coffins…touching!
Photographs of deceased ones close to us are a precious keepsake to be cherished.
The modern world is so removed from the death of its loved ones that we too often only see photographs such as these as grotesque. The time when family members washed the bodies, dressed them for burial, and dug the grave is really not so long ago. Now, like care of all kinds, we’ve handed what was once a sacred duty over to strangers - and lost much in the process.
I agree 10000000%. These pictures, have they been the person criticizing’s family member it would not be grotesque. I see it as a celebration of their life.
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?
[...] Dead photos – Victorian post-mortem photographs - Photo [...]
[...] Dead photos – Victorian post-mortem photographs - Photo [...]
Wow, it really goes to show how silly traditions are, that something this creepy could’ve been standard fare back then
No offense, did you take a second thought before writing this? Perhaps at that time photos were very expensive and people found it natural to do something like this to preserve the memory of a loved one, even if a bit too late.
Also, I consider the thinking of the grieving family to do such think superior to your “Silly” - qualification of their action.
rux that was not only succinctly put, but it was right on target as well. perhaps some people dont know that a lack of understanding and empathy is not only boorish ,silly and somewhat creepy in itself. to them it may just be standard fare.
People also took pictures so very seriously - they didn’t even smile in them. It’s not like it is today where taking a photo is associated with fun and carefree feelings.
I don’t think it was taking it seriously, so much as a 5 minute exposure time. hard to hold a smile that long!
It`s not creepy especially if it`s your own relatives. The entertainment industry is to blame for making us fearful of the dead through horror films and the like.
It should be natural to look after the dead as we look after the living. When my dad died I made sure that I saw him in his coffin to make sure he had on the clothes I chose for him to wear, and that he was placed neatly and in a manner that he would have wished. That`s not grotesque or strange, it`s what we do naturally to show love to our loved ones after they have left us.
I think you are the odd one. This little girl had a name, she was loved, and lost way too soon. This is not morbid. This is what they had to work with at the time. Unfortunately, after you have lost the ones you love, you may then realize the necessity for what you call “silly traditions”.
Very interesting post. There is a huge archive of these post mortem photos at http://www.thanatos.net
I don’t think it is weird or obsessive. If families didn’t record the person’s image just before he/she was buried, how would they ever memorialise their loved one? In most cases, the post-mortem photograph was the only photograph they would ever have.
In any case, they are posed beautifully.. peacefully.
My girlfriend owns a copy of Barbara Norfleet’s Looking at Death.
It got me interested in these kind of pictures. That tanatos site is no option for me because it’s not free but I found some more sites with a lot of post mortem pictures.
http://www.antiquephotoalbum.nl
http://www.paulfrecker.com
The family above with the 2 babies in there caskets seems kinda strange to me. WHY ARE THERE 2 BABIES DEAD AT THE SAME TIME? That is unusual to me. The father in the photo does not seem sad. If this were to happen today there would be a investigation. Could this had been a homicide?
There was the thougt at the time that if you cry a young child’s death your tears would wet the wings of the angel that will fly them to heaven. That’s why you dont see anyone crying in these kind of picture.
And it appears they were likely twins. You may know already that twins are higher risk even in modern times. Without prenatal care and the option of a natural delivery, there are a variety of reasons a family would lose two babies at once.
Beautifull, but we don’t seem to respect the dead anymore. I have a 5 year old son, not sure if I would take a picture of him dead though, may be that’s because I have so many of him alive, but in those days this may have been set up as a momento for the lost children and may have been the only picture the parents had. Very sad to think that children have to die at all really ;(
Is always shoking to see little children die, but if you realize that these pictures were taken in the XIX century you have to take in mind that mortality for children were high even more than in young and mid adults. And you have also to considerate that photographs were a luxury in those times, and sometimes the only mememto you were able to keep w
I at first thought this strange in modern times but having recently lost my grandson at 19 days old Inow undertand why people still do it. We were lucky having our little one at home healthy for a week and lots of photos were taken but my daughters friends baby was still born and she never had that privelidge. She hired a photographer to take photos of her, her partner and her baby and they are beautiful. These photos are all she has
@rosie: that is amazingly cool.my daughters baby son was still born and at the hospital they wouldnt allow her to take any pictures of him. she was very upset about this. it was hard on her as it would be hard for anyone . but she is only 16 and really needed some closure in order to put this firmly behind her .
I photographed four siblings holding a photo of their deceased brother yesterday. Their mom always wanted a photo of all five of them together and didn’t get her chance before her 18 year old was killed!
I would like to give my sympathy to all the people whose children have passed on and thank them for sharing their thoughts. I love the pictures and I think it is the most natural thing anyone would want to do. I have a friend whose baby was lost at 16 weeks of her pregnancy; she took him home for the day and her husband took lots of photos, of which she is rightly proud. One should never pass judgement on someone else’s grief.
Their attitudes were so opposite from ours. Death was always close by, while sex was kept firmly in private. Nowadays, sex is shouted from every window and street corner, while we pass over the subject of death, having no idea what to say or think.
I vant to drink zere bludd!
The photographs may not be easy to look at for us but they meant something to the families who had them taken and who are we to question how anybody deals with the death of their child ? I personally found it heartbreaking ..It must have been very important to these people, just think how long it took to take a photograph at the time and how they managed to pose as they obviously thought they should , not in tears or showing emotions.. how difficult must that have been? Perhaps we should all remember that people still have open casket funerals in some parts and how is this much different really.. each to their own eh.
I would rather remember the person I loved alive. I couldn’t imagine having a photo of my loved one dead. Its the same reason that when I attend a wake or a funeral I don’t go near the casket. I cherish my memories and photos of the person alive.
are there any dates avaliable for these photographs??
None I could find, sorry.
the last photograph of the little girl - is there any images or information on what it written on the back of the photo mount? the mount says flemons tonbridge - googled it and found this website that says when the Flemons were established - 1864
http://www.tonbridgehistory.org.uk/people/tonbridge-photographers.htm
i was wondering if this photograph said something similar?
i am doing a uni project on this sort of data so any help would be appreciated thanks
I’m sorry, nothing more than what is already written.