People used to pay to get their picture taken next to dead famous and inmous people in the old west. We have just deided its odd in western culture these days.
On May 3, 2014 7:47 AM, "Trevor Cunningham" <trevor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
That might explain why so many look like regular posed images, albeit awkward. This practice is curious in an accident on the side of the road kind of way. However, I'm fascinated by the funeral portraiture where the family gathers around the casket. I'm curious to know how many people specialize in such a service.
On 5/2/14, 10:50 AM, karl shah-jenner wrote:
Klaus wrote:
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.
you might have a point there. In earlier times photography was a pretty expensive thing and not everyone had portraits made in a timely fashion- it'd be no stretch to think relatives would seize the last possible opportunity when the aarrived to ad a carte-de-visite of Uncle Dave to the family collection.
