Hi,
Sometime ago I bought in a flee market an old photo that I think maybe it is one of the famous victorian style post-mortem photos.
I scanned and you can see it here:
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/5534/sisterszo2.jpg
The photo shows too girls, sisters, both standing up, the little one over a chair to achieve the hight of the older one. The writings in italian says it's a photo sent to a man and both are their sisters named Riccia (?) and Teca. This photo was made around 1910 in a famous portraiture studio in Firenzi (Italy) named Cav.A. Cattani and Figli.
Take a look in these details I think points one or both girls maybe is dead:
1 - The vague expressions and fixed eyes;
2 - The unnatural pose of the older girl;
3 - The white stands behind the girls (used to support the dead bodies standing up).
Maybe I'm completly wrong and it's just a common portrait of
living people and the details I pointed is just due to the long exposures required than.
Looking forward your opinion,
Charles Dias
