That is so awkward. I understand the desire to share your babies' photos with everyone, but I would think being too indirect about what happened to the babies would end up causing more pain (by well meaning people who didn't understand it sending congrats emails, for example).
i just place these in the same realm as bpics - there is probably only one other person that cares to see them as much as the woman and they should probably stay private.
Perhaps ironically, the photographer who did my bpics (and shorti's 1 year photos) also works with a charity to provide parents of infants who have passed with professional photos.
Her professional FB page is occasionally a bit jarring.
ETA: I didnt' mean that to sound as flippant as it sounds. I think it's fantastic that she's as open about this work she's doing as she is. I've been tempted to hide her updates from my feed because it's hard to see, but the pictures she shares (which is very rare anyway) are always tasteful and I've come around to respecting that the families in question find it healing in their grief to share the photos publicly.
But that doesn't change the fact that the juxtaposition of knowing that she took my naughty boobie pics and this is...odd.
Yeah, so are all those photos of people standing up living people then? I have no clue which people are actually dead in any of these pictures.
[br I don't know - it doesn't seem very well sourced or research so they may be.
I've seen an article just like this one in the past year, (different photos, though), and per the comments, at least half of them were proven not to be post-mortem pictures.
I think most of these are NOT post mortem pictures. The girl in the communion dress is most assuredly alive. Also the girl with the eyes penciled in - alive, and the photographer or someone else did that to the the photo. Probably because the negative was overexposed and came out washed out looking.
This was not an advanced science in the 19th century. If someone in the photo is deceased, you'll be able to tell.
Post by Miss Phryne Fisher on Oct 30, 2014 15:54:06 GMT -5
This isn't what I thought it was going to be. They also used to superimpose photos of (while they were alive) deceased relatives into family photographs. I have a few of kids in my family in the late 1800's, one that is especially hard is of Sophia, who died at about 2 years old, sitting next to her younger sister Sophia, 4, in a family picture. Recycling names was very common. I can't imagine the mindfuck.
Did you watch The Knick on Cinemax? Really interesting show and hits a lot of the medical developments of the Victorian era. There was an episode where one of the characters uses the X ray machine and you just want to cringe at what he was exposing himself to.
There is a show from the UK called London Hospital (I think it has a different name over there) that is basically ER in the Edwardian Era. One of the threads through the season is what the Xray machines were doing to the doctors who were operating them. They didn't know why but the doctors who operated them (specific ones from what I gather) knew what they were doing to themselves but felt it was such a valuable tool that the effects were worth it to them.
i like to go through old photographs when i go to antique stores. more than once i have come across an actual post-mortem photo and you can tell. i always feel so sad later and want to buy them so they belong to a family again but i cant do it.
Wow. I had no idea that antique stores had actual photos for sale. That makes me sad. Because I think about how much I cherish our pictures and the thought of them sitting in an antique store is crazy.
The Thanatos Archive is a good source to learn about the history and see more of these types of photos. They research them and provide some history of the photos.
My grandmother's family still takes post-mortem photos. My great grandmother died a few years ago and my grandmother asked if I'd like a copy of her "resting photo".
This isn't what I thought it was going to be. They also used to superimpose photos of (while they were alive) deceased relatives into family photographs. I have a few of kids in my family in the late 1800's, one that is especially hard is of Sophia, who died at about 2 years old, sitting next to her younger sister Sophia, 4, in a family picture. Recycling names was very common. I can't imagine the mindfuck.
When H was 4 his mom had a baby boy on Valentine's Day. He was a "blue" baby and didn't survive. 4 years later they had another son and gave him the same first name, different middle names.