Post-Mortem Photography should still be a thing.

Those pictures always intrigued me. Except all the dead kids. That just creeps me out. Idk. I guess I have a unique perspective on death ever since I've dissected a cadaver.

"maybe I'm weird but" MAYBE??? There's no question about it!

I'm probably missing out on what specifically you're referring to, but it still is in some respects. There is an active group of volunteers (usually, but not always professional photographers) who take pictures of children--specifically and primarily stillborn babies and newborns, but not exclusively. They then give the photos (usually in an album) to the family free of charge. Sorry, don't remember the name of the organization, but I knew a photographer who used to do that.

As far as adults are concerned, my guess would be that there are legal ramifications related to being able to give consent that, at least in part, prevent it from being a thing. Parents give consent for minor children.

Anyway, what is it you were referring to in the original post? Old west photographs of dead outlaws propped up outside of the bank they robbed or something else?

Well, hauling a dead body around the countryside may be a bit tricky legally, but if you're willing to make some compromises on setting and background, and remember to put it in your will, you could probably make it happen.

But to what end? What is at the root of this? A fear of dying, desire for immortality, vanity, connection to family, something else?

Whatever the reason, you can take solace in the fact that when you are dead, you won't care if it happened or not.

Alatariel75 wrote: »

My Mom has a bunch of post-mortem photos of our family from back in the day, I've always found them haunting but tasteful.

Personally, I just want to be dressed in a Hawaiian Shirt and dragged around to tropical bars, Weekend at Bernies style.

I like your style.

This practice isn't completely vanished from our societies. In many hospitals, it is common practice to have mini-photoshoots done of children who are stillborn. The unfortunate reality, for those of us parents who have had to face it, is that we don't get to bring our children home and sometimes photographs of the dead are all that we have.

smb0421 wrote: »

I'm feeling the Halloween spirit and love creepiness anyway but who else thinks Post-Mortem photography should still be a thing? I think people and animals should be tastefully photographed after death, maybe I'm weird but I find it really interesting and beautiful in a haunting way. Death can be as beautiful as birth in my opinion!

Honey, where've you been? It ain't gone anywhere! At least, down South. Let's all gather 'round the casket for a family portrait! *kitten*. You. Not. Oh yes, we do it down here. We take pictures of people in the casket, and then the family gathers around the casket for a picture. Now, do *I* personally partake in this? That would be a negatory. That's not how I want to remember my family members, but hey, that's what some people like, and it's a Southern tradition for a lot of families. That and "decoration day". Where you take your fried chicken, and all the "fixin's" to the graveyard, and have a picnic, while you put flowers on the family graves.

OP is morbid as hell... i like it!

I don't even want an open casket, all these people parading past to look at you lying there.

It's not my thing, but I don't mind if others are into it. I don't think it's as necessary these days since "back in the day" photographs were rare and sometimes one taken after death was the ONLY photo a family had of a deceased member. I'd rather remember the person in life, and I'll avoid seeing them in their coffins whenever I can. (I used to work in a cemetery and I have a good friend who was an embalmer's assistant, so it's not like I have a phobia or anything... I just prefer life memories.)

My Dad had some pictures of himself taken with my mother shortly after she passed. I never could bear to look at them. Her being gone, his grief so raw, just... awful. That being said, I don't mind looking at MM from the past, although it makes me sad sometimes, esp when they are of kids.

I wouldn't want a picture of my lovely dad on his death bed. I want to remember him as the vibrant, funny strong person full of life, not the shattered shell eaten by cancer - I have that memory imprinted in my mind as it is and don't need a hard copy

crispsandwich wrote: »

I wouldn't want a picture of my lovely dad on his death bed. I want to remember him as the vibrant, funny strong person full of life, not the shattered shell eaten by cancer - I have that memory imprinted in my mind as it is and don't need a hard copy

EXACTLY!!!!! This for my mom.

MaggieMuggle wrote: »

I don't even want an open casket, all these people parading past to look at you lying there.

I had this very discussion with my wife and son the other day. I made it explicitly clear that I want to be cremated as soon as humanly possible after I die, and by no means whatsoever, do I want an open casket funeral.

Cremation
Memorial service
Move on

I don't like looking at my friends/family that died either, lying there in a casket. I do not want my last visual memory of someone I loved and cared about to be that image. I'd rather remember them alive and kicking!

Not judging those that do the open casket thing; just not for me. To each his/her own.