Changes

Perhaps it is a practice many of us find strange today, but post-mortem photography, whether publically displayed or shown mostly to family and loved ones, was very common in the 19th century. It was a time of rapid technological change that brought new traditions to families while also forcing people to reconcile with the fact that early or unexpected death occurred frequently. In photography, people found a new medium to grieve. The style of that grieving changed over time and in different cultures. Some chose to show the dead as if they are resting, while others tried to make it look like they were still living. These traditions have not entirely disappeared, as some cultures and sub-cultures within the West still practice this tradition. In the West, we are still fascinated by leaked photographs of dead celebrities or famous people. While this may seem odd, at one point it was the standard to show your recently departed in a clear medium like photography.