Post-mortem photography: a window into the past
In the modern age of smart phones, we often take it for granted that thousands of images exist of ourselves, available at the click of a button, photos taken in seconds and at no cost.
With social media, we curate our ‘content’; uploading flattering images of ourselves for our followers to see. It never occurs to us that these images are what will be left of us when we die, for our loved ones to remember us by.
But for many families in the 19th and early 20th centuries, post-mortem photography was the only chance to capture an image of a loved one. Also known as mourning portraiture or memorial photography, this practice offered grieving families a final portrait to remember someone by.
A brief history of post-mortem photography
The tradition emerged with the advent of the daguerreotype in 1839, a ground-breaking photographic technique.
In an age of high infant mortality, families often had no photos of the deceased. These final images became their sole visual memory.
In both Europe and America, Victorian families embraced post-mortem photography as a central mourning ritual.
By the early 1900s, photography became more affordable and widespread, allowing people to be photographed in life. At the same time, society’s views on death began to shift, mourning became less elaborate and more private, and hospitals replaced the home as the primary place of death. These societal shifts led to the decline of the practice.
Global dissemination through colonialism and Christianity
Post-mortem photography, while rooted in Western customs, spread globally through:
Colonial influence, where European mourning practices were introduced in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Christian missionary activity, which encouraged memorial photography among converts.
Western medicine, which documented death in hospitals and institutions.
Yet, these practices were often adapted to fit local beliefs and customs or remained confined to elite or Christian communities.
Cultural variations and continuations
While post-mortem photography faded in much of the West, it did persist in other parts of the world. For example, the practice continued in Eastern Europe in to the 21st century due to a unique blend of cultural, religious, and socio-economic factors, including:
Strong religious beliefs through Orthodox Christianity and Catholicism.
Access to photography remaining limited and expensive until later in the 20th century.
Urbanisation and secularisation coming more slowly to Eastern Europe than to the West.
Symbolism in post-mortem imagery
Post-mortem portraits were rich in symbolism and sentiment, often depicting the deceased with items or in poses that spoke volumes. Common symbols included:
Flowers - innocence, fragility, brevity of life
Books/Bibles - faith and spiritual readiness
Toys - innocence, memory of childhood
Painted eyes - illusion of life
Family poses - ongoing love and connection
Crosses/wreaths - mourning, hope, eternity
Poses: reclining vs. standing
Reclining Poses were the most common arrangement. Subjects, especially children, were usually posed lying down to simulate sleep, symbolising peaceful rest and domestic comfort.
Standing or seated poses were less frequent and more technically challenging. These aimed to preserve the illusion of life and were more common for adults. However, many assumed post-mortem standing photos were actually of living people, held still by posing stands during long exposures.
Modern revival: grief, compassion and infant loss
While traditional post-mortem photography has largely vanished in the West, it lives on in a modern, deeply compassionate form, through organisations like Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS).
Founded in 2005, NILMDTS provides free professional remembrance photography to families facing the death of a baby before, during, or shortly after birth. These portraits offer a healing memory amid unimaginable grief.
Post-mortem photography: macabre or meaningful?
Though born in a time of high mortality and limited technology, post-mortem photography reveals a timeless human truth: the desire to hold on to those we’ve lost.
Far from being morbid, these portraits were acts of love. They gave families something tangible in the face of the intangible, a way to see and remember the departed.
Each image tells a story not just of death, but of the life that came before it.
