Victorian post mortem

*Shudder*

Post-Mortem Photography was an important part of dealing with the death of a loved one in the Victorian era. This article explains the fascinating truth behind the photos of the dead.

As time goes by, there are some traditions and customs that have been forgotten or are not necessary anymore. I clearly remember that all of the funeral ceremonies that my parents attended were always at the disease's house. It was a way for the disease to say goodbye to his/her home. Nowadays, most people avoid this practice, they say it is "too morbid" or like my mom said " It give me the chills just to think about a funeral in my house", this is the way many people feel about funerals…

Explore ADiamondFellFromTheSky's 1157 photos on Flickr!

Slightly more macabre follow up post to Hidden mothers in Victorian photography. Post-mortem photography is the practice of photographing the recently deceased. It is also known as memorial portrai…

There's a slightly macabre story about the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, a man so dissipated he expired from chronic alcoholism in his late 30s. (His last words purportedly were, "I've had eighteen straight whiskeys. I think that's the record.") Lionized in America, he found the seductions of the White Horse pub a little too much for him and keeled over with a brain hemorrhage. His widow Caitlin recalls that when his body was being shipped back to Wales for burial, some of the deckhands…

Julia Stilley Lynn standing, and sister Hannah Stilley Willard. Mannsville, Oklahoma. Daughters of Alfred & Nancy Ann Stilley.

This site exists to discredit the idea of the Victorian standing post mortem photo. Post mortem photos do exist, but none of them are stand alone.

Taking photographs of dead family members became popular in the 19th century, and appealed to those who wanted a memento of their relative (typically a child). It was not considered macabre, but faded from popularity probably after widespread use of affordable cameras allowed people to have photographs taken during life to serve the same purpose. "As the common practice of post-mortem photography in North America and Western Europe has largely ceased, the portrayal of such images has become…

The community on Russian social media site VI, called 'Selfie with the Deceased', pledge to pay between 1,000 and 5,000 roubles (£10-£50) for the best selfie with a corpse.