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Hi everyone.
I've looked for a long time for a Victorian photo or illustration giving a good view of the special supports used to prop up deceased persons so they could be photographed. I've wondered if they were any different from the props used to help living persons hold still long enough for the camera to capture an unblurred image.
As most of you know, post-mortem photography was popular in the Victorian Era because it gave the bereaved family a "keepsake" portrait of their deceased loved one. There was a very high infant mortality rate, so many post-mortem photos are of young children, often photographed lying on a bed or couch surrounded by flowers, as if asleep. Occasionally one comes across photos of a child held in the grieving mother's arms, or propped up in a chair surrounded by sad-faced siblings. These photos are very touching, especially when one realizes it might be the only photo of their beloved little child that a family had.
But there were also post-mortem photos of adults, and sometimes they were depicted fully dressed and seated in a chair, as if still alive.
Special photography props were used to hold them upright in as close to a life-like posture as possible. Because the photographer was attempting to render one last life-like photograph of the deceased, the support props they used are always carefully hidden.
This Victorian photo is amazing, because it shows the entire scene- the photographer, his camera, the deceased individual seated in a chair, and the specialized props used to hold him upright.
If you look behind his chair you will see a wooden stand with a metal head-rest. It would have been height-adjustable, and possibly width-adjustable as well. It's positioned so it wouldn't show in the keepsake photo. The deceased man's legs appear to be rather stiff, barely bending at all, with the heels of his boots dug into the carpet for a little more to support. His arms hang straight down at his sides. I suspect there is another support going around his waist that is hidden by his clothing. He could even be tied to the chair around his middle.
Victorian post-mortem photographs always make me think of the Ripper victims... though of course the purpose of their photos was quite different.
Best regards,
Archaic
I've looked for a long time for a Victorian photo or illustration giving a good view of the special supports used to prop up deceased persons so they could be photographed. I've wondered if they were any different from the props used to help living persons hold still long enough for the camera to capture an unblurred image.
As most of you know, post-mortem photography was popular in the Victorian Era because it gave the bereaved family a "keepsake" portrait of their deceased loved one. There was a very high infant mortality rate, so many post-mortem photos are of young children, often photographed lying on a bed or couch surrounded by flowers, as if asleep. Occasionally one comes across photos of a child held in the grieving mother's arms, or propped up in a chair surrounded by sad-faced siblings. These photos are very touching, especially when one realizes it might be the only photo of their beloved little child that a family had.
But there were also post-mortem photos of adults, and sometimes they were depicted fully dressed and seated in a chair, as if still alive.
Special photography props were used to hold them upright in as close to a life-like posture as possible. Because the photographer was attempting to render one last life-like photograph of the deceased, the support props they used are always carefully hidden.
This Victorian photo is amazing, because it shows the entire scene- the photographer, his camera, the deceased individual seated in a chair, and the specialized props used to hold him upright.
If you look behind his chair you will see a wooden stand with a metal head-rest. It would have been height-adjustable, and possibly width-adjustable as well. It's positioned so it wouldn't show in the keepsake photo. The deceased man's legs appear to be rather stiff, barely bending at all, with the heels of his boots dug into the carpet for a little more to support. His arms hang straight down at his sides. I suspect there is another support going around his waist that is hidden by his clothing. He could even be tied to the chair around his middle.
Victorian post-mortem photographs always make me think of the Ripper victims... though of course the purpose of their photos was quite different.
Best regards,
Archaic
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