Photography of the late 19th century was a complex process requiring large cameras, availability of natural light and extensive chemical processing. In fact the memento mori photograph may have been the only image ever made of the deceased, or of their family. The deceased were arranged on a bed as if asleep, or with their favourite toy if a child, and with other members of the family in a final family photograph. When a family member passed away they were dressed up in their Sunday best and the photographer was called to make a memorial keepsake for the family.īoth the parents in this picture are slightly blurred from movement only their daughter is captured crisply. Post-mortem portraiture became a common practice. The memorial portrait became the poignant repository for memories, feelings and emotions. In very short order the photograph became a technologically determined artefacts, evidence that a specific person or object existed at a specific time and place in history. It was now a subject the general population, via photography, could approach and they did so directly, personally, and emotionally, by representing their recently departed loved ones in photos. This meant the practice of reflecting upon one’s mortality and the transient nature of life were no longer the exclusive domain of the Church or philosophers. Practical photographic practices are said to have started in 1839 with the invention of the daguerreotype images that captured and kept light on a permanent substrate. ![]() This child has been posed with his favourite toys.
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