Memento Mori

Before photography was invented and popularized people had their portraits painted. This was very expensive and only for the richer families. When photography was invented, people who didn’t have that much money could also have their portraits taken. It cost a lot less money and people now had a way to remember their deceased family members. 

Photography was still quite expensive, although not nearly as expensive as paintings, and some people would spend their money on a photograph only after a family member had died. This was especially popular during the Victorian era when childhood mortality rates were very high. When a child died a post-mortem photography was maybe the only picture the family would have to remember the child. The subjects where often positioned in a way that would make them seem like they were alive or just asleep. 

Picture from Wikipedia

Parents with their deceased daugther

The families were very proud of the photographs, and for them they were a way of dealing with their loss and remembering the deceased. Today, people would probably look at this in a very different way. For many it will seem unnatural and even creepy, maybe because we have a different relationship with death. The mortality rates are much lower and people don’t usually like to be reminded of death or to talk about it. 

Post-mortem photography became less popular in the 20^th century and died out almost completely when “snapshot” photography became popular and people started to get their own cameras.