Re: Corpse Photography

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My personal theory is that these photographs follow in the tradition of creating death masks to preserve memories or create painted portraits.

And everyone is different, I guess.  I myself am quite content to not have seen my dad (or have a photograph of him) after he died. I’d rather have a living picture of him in my heart.

Klaus

On May 1, 2014, at 6:27 PM, Telesca Photography <telephotonc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I believe that part of the reason may have been to ease the grieving of relatives who could not attend the burial.  During the Civil War, bodies often could not be transported back to the soldier's hometown - unless the family paid for it. 

When my aunt passed away in Florida in 1997, my grandmother (my aunt's mother) was 97 and could not make the trip from NE PA to FL.  Since she could not be there, she wanted me to take a photo of my aunt in the casket.  It did ease bring her a great deal of comfort. 

When my grandfather passed away in 1979, I was in California on vacation with my mother, sister and brother.  The funeral was in NE PA.  I could not attend, but no one shot pics for us.  There was no closure for me until I attended a Memorial Day service in the Veteran's section of the cemetery he was buried in - the services took place right at his gravesite which was next to the US flag. 

Since then, most of my relatives have been cremated since they often died far from their cemetery plot is located.  With the current state of airline transportation, it just makes sense to be cremated since you couldn't afford to transport a casket via airline and hearse and then hire another funeral home. 

Chris Telesca


On 5/1/14, 10:22 AM, Lea Murphy wrote:
When my brother drowned my dad asked that I photograph him in his casket. I was exceptionally uncomfortable with it for a vast array of reasons (not the least of which was that my brother and I were very close and I was grieving deeply) and originally said no, I didn't think I could do it.

Dad then told me that the family had photographs of their deceased going all the way back to the dawn of photography…grandparents, great grandparents, etc.

Knowing that by taking the images I would be adding to the history of our family, I agreed.

They aren't photographs that I look at very often but I am glad I have them.

Mostly, I'm glad I it this for my dad.

Lea


your kids . my camera . we'll click
www.leamurphy.com





On May 1, 2014, at 9:07 AM, John Palcewski wrote:

Photographer in India earns living taking pictures of the dead minutes before they’re cremated

"Shankar Jha earns about $500 a month capturing photos of recently deceased for grieving families in Varanasi, in northern India. ‘Initially I felt awkward doing this job but now I've got used to it it doesn't feel bad anymore.’ "

Only in the New York Daily News!


http://nydn.us/1u8VOgk





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