Photography and Death

Framing Death throughout History

Racheal Harris, Jack Denham, Julie Rugg, Ruth Penfold-Mounce

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781839090479
• Topic: Scienze sociali
• Subtopic: Morte in sociologia

Photography represents a medium in which the moment of death can be captured and preserved, the image becoming a mechanism through which audiences are beguiled by the certainty of their own mortality. Examining a spectrum of post-mortem images, Photography and Death considers various ways in which the death image has been framed and what these styles communicate about changing social attitudes related to dying, mourning and the afterlife.Presenting a fresh perspective on how we might view death photography in the context of our contemporary cultural milieu, this book brings together a range of historical examples to create a richer narrative of how we see, understand and discuss death in both the private and public forum. Building upon existing publications which relate explicitly to the study of death, dying and cultures of mourning, the book discusses topics such as post-mortem portraiture, the Civil War, Spiritualism and lynching. These are positioned alongside contemporary representations of death, as seen in celebrity death images and forensic photography. Uncovering an important historical contrast, in which modern notions of death are a comment on ownership or an emotionless, clinical state, Harris highlights the various ways that the deceased body is a site of contestation and fascination.An engaging read for students and researchers with an interest in death studies, this book represents a unique account of the various ways that attitudes about death have been shaped through the photographic image.

CHAPTER 1

ROMANCE

Image 2. Flower Wreath Source: Shutterstock.

POST-MORTEM PHOTOGRAPHY

John Berger (2013, p. 20) suggests that the most popular use for the photograph is as a memento of the absent. When considering the death image, it is not difficult to see where this sentiment rings true, for no other style of image encapsulates longing so specifically. There is nothing we long for more than what we can no longer hold and no absence more pronounced than that in which the cause of separation is death. If those we love are far away from us geographically, they at least retain their ability for correspondence. It is that correspondence through which we convey care and establish certainty about our shared relationship. When this avenue is removed from us by death, it does not remove our need to feel connected to those we love. If anything, death demands that we articulate emotion with more clarity, as if that were necessary to the departed knowing how profoundly they are missed. Mourning is a customary means for conveying continued care after the death of a loved one. We mourn not only for their absence but also for ourselves. It is the living who suffer the absence of the dead and seek to fill it with mementoes of relationships halted by the inevitability of mortality. The photograph is a tangible representation of that which is absent.

The invention of photography played a vital role in memorializing as much as it did in the construction of mourning narratives and death rituals. What imbues the image with significance when viewed within the context of mourning is that it captures a complete likeness of the person who is now absent. Though looking upon this likeness can be painful, having it ensures that we will not succumb to the fogginess of memory, that we will maintain an avenue of connection with the person that has been, even though they are now no longer. Roland Barthes discusses this concept in his study on photography, Camera Lucidia (2000[1981]). Although his discussion considers the power of images from quite a broad spectrum, Barthes is at his most vulnerable and honest analysis of their power when talking about the relationship he shares with his collection of photographs of his deceased mother. He describes returning to her pictures in an attempt to find her, as though he might uncover something about her personality, her past, which was previously unknown to him and, in doing so, might understand her better despite the void which death has placed between them (Barthes, 2000, pp. 65, 67, 99–100). For Barthes, every photograph is symbolic of death. It is proof that because we have lived, we will all one-day die (Barthes, 2000, p.73). The photographs mark the passage of her life before and after his birth, they provide him an insight into who she had been before he knew her, whilst acting as conduit through which he can still know her now that she is gone. What becomes evident throughout this narrative, is that in Barthes assessment the photograph has given a new dimension to the relationship he shares with his mother. Although she has succumbed to inevitable death, through the image she can remain present. Still, this is not an easy presence, it is one steeped in mourning, uncertainty and unknowing. These sentiments are indicative of the relationships which humans continue to have with images of the dead.

This chapter grounds itself in the adoption of this aspect of Barthes scholarship, entwining it with similar perspectives that John Berger has discussed in his works. Unlike the following chapters, which will embrace the same approach however, this chapter looks most closely at the intimate link between the beloved dead and the death image. When using the term “beloved dead” I am referring specifically to lost loved ones. These are individuals who, while they may be unknown to contemporary viewers of the image, were known and loved by family members at the time the image was created. This sense of love is conveyed through the appearance of the body within the image (the care which has been shown to its presentation) along with the way the image is constructed. These are photographs of sentimentality and mourning, which often formed an outlet for emotions which were not allowed to be expressed publicly (Blood & Cacciatore, 2014, p. 225; Hilliker, 2006, p. 247). Regardless of who they portray, it is this composition which conveys their sentiment and regardless of the passage of time, it is sentiment which continues to speak to a global audience.

The image is a poignant reminder of mortality, for in representing death, the photograph represents the locus of human uncertainties. Uncertainty for the living because they have no means of possessing that which they love, no evidence of the progress of the soul from one life into the next, and no proof that autonomy or emotion are eternal – that the bonds we created with our loved ones in life transcend beyond our last breath. For the dead, the image represents uncertainty related to memory, challenging how the individual life can be remembered based on what tangible proof remains after life has ended. To account for this uncertainty, memorial images frequently romanticize rather than challenge the idea of dying. In casting the dead in a romantic light, the living become distracted from the inevitability of decay, whilst being allowed the indulgence of afterlife reunion narratives. Regardless of the era or mode of their production, any image of the deceased is a very specific kind of text. It represents the triple narrative of a relationship lived and living (one which continues beyond the mortality of one party), as a historical proof of life (this person did live), and as a tangible locus of absence (this person is no longer). Although the visage that greets us in the post-mortem image will invariably be of the other, in looking at it we are also always confronted with the certainty of our death. More often than not, we cannot look away.

My discussion of variations on the death image will be divided into three sections. The first provides a brief overview of the history of death narratives and how these pertain to the moment of death and subsequent capturing of human likeness. I consider examples which capture the subject immediately prior to death as well as in the days following. The former, while not depicting death, clearly infer that its arrival is immanent and as such form the foundation for how the memorial narrative for the individual is related to the concept of the Good Death. Following this will be a discussion of post-mortem photographs which depict the deceased in a way that seeks to imitate life. In these examples, bodies are posed as though sleeping or incorporate living members of the family into the image to create a death scene. In some instances, this staging will seek to replicate life, whilst in others the living are more clearly engaged in mourning rituals. The final section looks at death photography in which the body is displayed within the casket. In these examples, the dead appear both as solitary figures as well as alongside living mourners. They differ from the other styles of death image in that there is no masking of the fact that death has taken place. There is a clear sense of documentation in these images, with mourning secondary to confirmation of care: care of the body and care for the observance of other visual mourning rituals (Linkman, 2012, p. 16).

1.1 ALTERNATIVES TO PRE- AND POST-MORTEM PORTRAITURE

One of the earliest attempts to render an artistic likeness of the deceased was the posthumous portrait. These were very popular throughout Europe and the United Kingdom, particularly in between 1810 and 1860 (Nelson, 2016), although the cost of their production limited availability to the higher social classes (Lightfoot, 2019, p. 152; Ruby, 1989, p. 5). Such examples vary wildly in style and design, their success relying largely on the competency and vision of a specific artist. While it was not always the intent of the portrait to capture the deceased in the moment of death, each design bore clear symbology which conveyed death as its message. Where the subject was a child (which is the case in the overwhelming majority of surviving examples) these symbols (over turned shoes, upside down birds) allowed for the subject to be captured as they had been, whilst conveying the sentiment of death in way less confrontational to the viewer than later portraits would often be (Lightfoot, 2019, p. 153; Schimmelman, 2007, p. 227). This style also allowed for the inclusion of multiple family members within the image and cast the deceased in scenes or places which comprised elements of life rather than factually accurate settings. In some later examples of death photography, grieving families can be seen holding the portrait of a deceased loved one (Linkman, 2012, p. 134; Nelson, 2016), demonstrating how valuable these were to family narratives and the importance of including absent family members in subsequent periods of grief.

Owing to the time and complexity of large-scale artistic renderings, miniature portraits of the deceased also came to provide a means of commemorating loved ones, whilst being easy to carry and conceal during the grieving process. In these examples, it is commonly only the face and shoulders of the subject which is captured in the image and, as with most painted portraits of the era, the prominent or more favorable features of the individual are highlighted above those which are less desirable or have been tainted by long-term illness. Even in instances where the portrait is capturing death, the deceased is always shown to look peaceful and without blemish.

A primary problem faced by artists of the era was that the subject of the pre-death or death portrait risked passing away or deteriorating before the image was completed. This made these forms of commission undesirable for many working within the field (Linkman, 2006, p. 319). In other examples, the posing of the deceased body and its rendering within the work gave the overall composition an uneasy quality. While some artists were comfortable working with a recently deceased body, retaining the ability to recapture the vitality of life, for others the death of the subject was an obstacle difficult to overcome. In either case, the undeniable progress of nature and the natural decomposition of the corpse was a central factor to their work. Without the technology of embalming, the body of the deceased had a limited shelf life. Within 24 hours, it was thought that the corpse began to lose the essence of life. After 48, the deterioration was evident (Linkman, 2012, p. 25). While sketches of the deceased could be used to creature a blueprint from which more detailed works could develop, these could not capture a true likeness of the individual. The result was always a gap between the likeness that had been and the image which had been immortalized.

The invention of the camera and the consequent accessibility of photographic images drastically changed the way in which the living honored and remember their dead. As with many styles of art, the outcome of the portrait was reliant not just on the skill of the artist, but the situation as they chose to interpret it. In contrast, the camera presented the opportunity to preserve the deceased exactly as they had been at the moment of passing. Depending on the cause of death, this had the ability to complicate the task and yet, it is thought that for many the honesty of the representation was vital to accepting the death (Jalland, 1996, p. 289). Even instances where illness was evident in the body, there were a range of options to conceal much that was unpleasing.

In later years, the photographic process was refined and improved upon, giving operators more artistic license. Changes to photographic negatives also allowed for multiple images to be produced from a single plate, and for a relatively low cost. When we consider the amount of mourning ephemera that was collected during the period, it is not difficult to imagine where this would have been beneficial to both the photographer and the deceased. For the itinerant photographer being able to produce multiple images ensured revenue, which was not only essential to the continuance of their business but also made the grim task of photographing the subject more appealing. For families, death images were important records, which would be distributed to several relatives (Henkin, 2019, p. 50; Lightfoot, 2019, p. 155). While there may not have been the financial means or capability to ensure multiple reproductions of an artwork, the camera ensured that an adequate number of images could be distributed among different family members. In instances where the only photograph of a person was their post-mortem photograph, this distribution played a vital role in ensuring the memory of the deceased within a larger family narrative – sometimes expanding across continents and involving family members whom the deceased had never known in life (Schimmelman, 2007, p. 231). Surviving examples of the daguerreotype suggest that death images of children were the most popular use for this technology (Cadwaller, 2008, p. 13, Hilliker, 2006, p. 247).¹ The overwhelming sentiment which all post-mortem portraits convey is that of the Good Death.

1.2 THE GOOD DEATH

At a time where medical care was in its infancy and the spread of disease was rampant, dying was an ever-present feature of life. Similarly, nursing home environments and hospice did not exist as they do today and thus, out of necessity, death was also an intimate fixture within the family home. In many instances, the dying process would commence long before the moment of clinical death took place (Elias, 1985, p. 29). In cases where prolonged illness was to be the cause of death, the afflicted individual began a social death in preparation for their physical one. The result of retiring from public life meant that the immanence of death was confined to the family home and it is here where death narratives played the most prominent role (Kellehear, 2009, p. 135; Lightfoot, 2019, p. 150).

To soften the emotional toll of death on friends and family members that not only cared for the dying but also survived them, narratives arose to address the passage of the soul from mortality into the afterlife. Heavily influenced in many cases by religious ideas of mortality, the concept of the Good Death became integral to how death was accepted, and grief processed by surviving family members. It played close attention to the idea of an individuals’ need to depart from life in a way that saw them prepared for reunion with God. Rather than being a cause for enduring sadness, the living were encouraged to take joy from this reconciliation. An important part of preparation for this ascension of the soul was the atonement for past transgression (which we continue to see in the reading of Last Rites) and in the earthly preparations which were undertaken by family in service of the dying. This may include the preparations of the death bed and burial garments, along with ensuring that upon death the body of the deceased was cleaned and groomed in preparation for burial. As cremation was largely frowned upon, a large amount of emphasis was placed on the presentation of the body for burial. This was linked to the popular belief of bodily resurrection, which states that upon the return of Christ the faithful will be raised back to life in their earthly bodies for the final judgment (Lightfoot, 2019, p. 150; Linkman, 2012, p. 14). With this literal belief as a motivator, it was important to ensure that the dead were well prepared for this day by being groomed and dressed in their finest attire.

The Good Death narrative, while not the motivation for the post-mortem photograph, was integral to the composition of many of the images produced by post-mortem photographers. As Philippe Aries highlights in his seminal study The Hour of Our Death (1981, p. 449), in its earliest incarnations, beyond a return to God, the Good Death did not extend to the consideration of an afterlife of the departed. The progress of the soul beyond mortality was not an object of consideration for the living, whose focus was instead primarily linked only to their memory of that person. It was remembering that became important to family identity and to forming a social history of the family unit. In this sense, the death image acts as the final reminder of a loved one and it is used to maintain connections which relate specifically to a past relationship. It was not until later, particularly during the rise of spiritualism, that more romantic attitudes about the continuance of the soul began to evolve. In these, the afterlife presented an opportunity for the reunion between family and loved ones. So too, the idea of eternal youth and beauty were prominent fixtures, as was the notion that the afterlife existed in a kind of parallel to this one. In this plane of existence, the souls of the departed enacted similar behaviors to the living, including falling in love with other spirits. As such, it became important to retain continuing relationships, in which the dead were not only remembered, but also conducted an active spirit life. In this realm, they were not only aware of their departed loved ones but retained an emotional connection to them. These parallel narratives would be rejoined in eternity, when all souls would be reunited with their loved ones and family members.

For modern audiences in particular, the idea of the Good Death is integral to understanding the narrative which the death photograph conveys. In much the same way as a written narrative, the image contained a range of visual cues which worked with the cultural death beliefs of the time, which are now read alongside death narrative of the present. At times what these suggested seems quite strange in comparison to contemporary belief. Still, the semiotics of the image function to construct a story in which the Good Death was a peaceful slumber, in which the deceased awaited the day of resurrection and their heavenly ascension. This was achieved using light and shade, positioning the body in certain ways and by clothing it in specific attire. In some instances, props would also convey these sentiments, although these were limited to ensure that the focus of the viewer was not drawn away from the deceased, who must be the focal point of the image (Fernandez, 2011, pp. 348–350). The following sections address some of the unique attributes found within the death image.

1.3 COMPOSITION OF THE DEATH AND NEAR-DEATH IMAGE

How the body of the deceased or nearly deceased is displayed within the image will vary depending on the age of the subject and the affluence of the family. In most instances, adults are photographed in bed (Schimmelman, 2007, p. 226). Linens will always be plain white, sometimes with lace adornments. In many accounts, adornments were done within the home by female family members (Linkman, 2012, p. 15) who were the primary care givers at the end of life and immediately after death. The use of fine linens is a mark of respect and in many instances such linens were purchased specifically in anticipation of death. They could be reused for multiple family members, but the utmost care was always shown in the presentation of th...