lecture notes
My essay
What has become of death in photography?
With the invention of the first commercially viable
photographic procedures, which made photographs commonplace and cheaper than
commissioning an artist to paint a portrait. Families sought a way to memorise
and commemorate their late loved ones, in most cases these may be the only
images the families held and usually depicted the demised love one in a
lifelike or deep sleep a pre mortem state. Early photographs contain a close up
of the face, or body, and the deceased either looks life like or in a deep sleep
they very rarely contain the coffin or any indication that the subject has
died. As the style has evolved so has the composition of the images. If of
children contain a favourite toy or play thing often on a couch or in a crib. It
is also common to find images of very young children often in the embrace of their
mother. Older or adult’s were posed in chairs and propped upright in some
circumstances and often had their eyes propped open or pupils panted on to the
film, this also extended to making the subjects cheeks appear to contain
colour. This essay intends to compare and contrast two different genres of
photography which both deal with the issue of death, and tries to conclude
whether post mortem photography is a thing of the past? And whether death has
been turned sexual and seductive by the fashion industry?
This image is of a mother and father with their late daughter posing for one last family portrait. The thing I noticed in this image besides their daughter is that none of them are looking directly at the camera and also they don’t look to upset the mother almost looks angry. The frame is filled nicely but the only thing that distracts your eye in this image is the sheet in the background. If I had taken this image I would have removed the sheet so you wouldn’t get distracted.
This image is of a man after he
had passed away. When I saw this image straight away I really liked it the
composition I feel is just right. Also this image you might think it is of a
sick man in a hospital be they way he is propped up. The boarder on this image
I feel adds to this image and you can tell that this image was taken along
while ago. But what catches my eye is the black sheet over the bottom half of
his body, I could just be a blanket but its most like some sort of body bag
which would have been placed over him once the family had paid their last
respects.
This image of
a lady who has also passed away and she has been placed back in her own bedroom
in her own bed. In those days families would bring their loved ones home and
lay them in their own beds until it was the funeral, just like in today world
some people are brought home but the are kept in their coffin. This one looks
more moody as the lighting in dark in the room. I feel like the family wanted a
photograph taken but was scared to show the face so you can hardly see this
ladies face.
This image when
I first saw it really scared me I thought I was just a photograph of someone’s
pot dolls but when I looked closely it is a photograph of a little girl
surrounded by her pot dolls. I think that this composition of this image could
have been better. If I was to take this photograph I would only have one chair
and not two, which would make the image more, balanced. Again the exposure is
high which thinking about it does make a little more sense because they didn’t
have the equipment we have available to us today which makes it easy for us to
figure out the right exposure.
These images of
post mortem subjects look unusual these days but back then it was the norm. Families
wanted to keep the memory of their loved ones and had photographs taken of them
and got the subjects to be posed how the families remembered them when they
were alive, so most were photographed led down looking like they were sleeping
or resting. Making them look peaceful in the photograph I think that would make
them more relax about the departure of their loved one. This I think is really
sweet way of looking at death. Most people when a loved one has died, goes to
the chapel of rest to see their loved one for the last time before they are
buried or cremated and not many people really think about photographing them. I’ve
spoken to a few people and they said they didn’t like the idea, that the
thought is weird and creepy but I think they are just looking at it from the
wrong angle death in most cases death is a peaceful passing which all of us
have to go through but the idea of death scares most people which is why they
don’t like these kinds of photographs because it is a reminder of what is coming
for us, and how short life is, whereas these photographs were meant to be a
reminder of their life spent with their loved one and the happy memories which
they shared. These images in them days were probably the only photographs,
which they would have of their loved one and this is why this kind of
photography was popular. In the early 1800’s the death rate was really high
because of limited knowledge of medicine and hygiene this is why a lot of
children didn’t reach their teenaged lives.
These images are Daguerreotype,
which was, invent by and named after Louis
Jacques Mande Daguerre, he perfected this way of creating images but producing
direct positive images on silver-coated copper plates. (Simkin, 2011) This method
of imagery kept cost down as paint was more expensive and was a quicker process
to. This process because it took so long to develop the photographers took
their time in the composition, lighting and exposure, which comes across in the
images. The images themselves are really beautiful and the people look almost
like pot dolls.
This image is a fashion photograph
which tackles the issue of death. This is different than the other photograghs
ive been looking at as the people in the photograph are perfesional models and
are trying to make death more sexy and exciting. Vampires these days are
portrayed as seductive men and women who prey on our weekness for love and
imortality, which is often used in fashion photography.
This image is like the previous
in the way the model looks more seductive than portraying an actual death. The
reds in this image makes the image look more sexual and dangerous because we
associate the colour red with passion and danger, and having the model wear
white is a sign of virginity and innocence which adds more to the idea of it
being more seductive than an actual death photograph.
This image reminds me of the image if the lady going down the river to her death the way this lady is laid out this is more closer to looking like a real death but again they are trying to sell the items of clothing which she is wearing with take away the meaning almost and it just becomes a fashion statement than in image of a loved one.
These images are recent and are
taken digitally and I feel that because they are so easy to take and dispose of
photographers have gotten lazy and started to rely on newer technology to help
them create the images for example light meters and computers.
So in conclusion this essay has
disgusted about the issues of death and two different ways of portraying it. I
looked at the history of taking post mortem photographs and what type of
process this was and how this helped the family’s member their love one once
they had died. Then I looked at more modern takes on death being portrayed in
photograph and how they made death look beautiful and seductive making the
subject softer.
Today in photography you see more
of the fashion side than the commemorative side. Everyone knows sex sells and
even though it is a tough subject to photograph with it being emotional they
still manage to sell sex, which in turn sells the product.
In the future I see the idea of
death going more towards the fashion side because as generations go by we are
more aware of our own mortality, because of all the sickness and murder in the
world we see on the news and in the newspapers. No one really wants to see his
or her loved one in his or her demise. I feel that’s if this happens we have
lost the sanctity of death and would be using the fashion idea as a comfort
blanket deal with the issue of death and how we should be feeling about it.
My thoughts
are that death comes to us all whether it is sooner rather than later that if
we choose to ignore it we are deluding the next generation and ourselves.
Bibliography
