The Post Mortem Archive & Research's photostream

Death was once all too common and its tragedy accepted as part of the natural course of life.
Often the town photographer was enlisted to memorialize the death of a loved one because, particularly in the case of the death of a child, often times this would be the only picture you would ever have of that person.

Post mortem photographs are of great sociological significance. Often thought of as 'grisly', these photographs have a sometime almost lyrical beauty. Before the loved one was forever consigned to oblivion, a photograph of the person was made as a keepsake and remembrance. As indicators of a peoples’ death practices, the post mortem photograph reminds us of our devotion to and love of one another. And, the post mortem photograph reverberates as an intimation of our own mortality.

The contents of this archive, including all images and text, are for personal, educational, non-commercial use only.

External links:
About Daguerreotype.
Frequently Asked Daguerreotype Questions.
Glossary of Terms Used with Daguerreotypes.

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Postmortem photography was widespread in Europe and America during the nineteenth century. The practice of photographing people after death, which began very early in the history of the medium, was performed as a special service by portrait photographers. Like portraiture, it was at first accomplished almost exclusively by the daguerreotype process.

During the first few years of its existence, the daguerreotype--a small, highly detailed picture on polished silver--was an expensive luxury. As the number of photographers increased throughout the 1840s, the cost of daguerreotypes diminished. Other, less costly procedures were introduced in the 1850s, along with novel forms of portraiture like the ambrotype (on glass), the tintype (on thin, cheap metal), and the carte-de-visite (on paper). By the 1860s, photographic portraiture was affordable to virtually all members of society.

The making of a portrait photograph was a memorable occasion. The results had an importance for their subjects that would diminish in the twentieth century, after photography had ceased to be a novelty. A portrait photograph was an expression of identity and of individual worth. It was particularly valued in America, a nation undergoing a process of self-definition, and in which individualism was seen as a national trait.19 A postmortem photograph, which represented the loss of an individual, had a value beyond that of an ordinary portrait.

That value was reflected in its cost. As a specialty item, a postmortem photograph was more expensive--sometimes considerably more expensive--than an ordinary portrait. In part, this had to do with the unusual requirements of its making, if only because the photographer had to come to the subject rather than the other way around. However, this by itself could not have justified the high price of a postmortem picture. Photographers, no less astute than other business people, were charging an extraordinary fee for a product desired with extraordinary fervor by their customers. Whatever the reason for the high fees, the commissioning of a postmortem photograph often involved an economic sacrifice.

Postmortem photography has one precedent in a centuries-old tradition of mourning portraiture in painting. These pictures are not at all like the earlier images of the ars moriendi. They are individual portraits rather than generic characterizations, and they depict their subjects after death rather than before. The earliest examples, made in northern Europe in the sixteenth century, show a recently-deceased subject, usually a nun or a clergyman, lying or sitting up in bed. Laypersons, especially children, began to be depicted in the seventeenth century.

Many American postmortem photographs depict their subjects in a similar manner. Though the photographs can be considered a perpetuation of this tradition, it is not known whether the tradition is continuous, since the only pieces of evidence for its persistence are the postmortem photographs themselves. It is possible that the motif was brought from Europe, or it may be that the creators of both kinds of picture followed a similar logic--since most people died in bed, it was a sensible place to depict them. The setting, moreover, would be consistent with the last memories of the survivors.

Some of the photographs differ from their painted predecessors by depicting their subjects as if they were asleep. The concept of death as sleep has am extremely long history. It appears in Homer and Virgil, in medieval Christian liturgy, and in common parlance even today, when reference is made to the "repose" of the dead. It had a sentimental appeal in the nineteenth century, as it corresponded to the urge to symbolically maintain the presence of the deceased person within the circle of the family. Someone who is asleep may, after all, wake up, if only in the dreams or fantasies of the living.

As a denial of death. this phenomenon is defined by modern psychiatry as an aspect of acute grief. In this view, normal grief is a process of "emancipation from the bondage to the deceased, readjustment to the environment in which the deceased is missing, and the formation of new relationships," while acute grief as an inability to make these adjustments. An initial dwelling upon a mental image of the deceased is considered to be normal. In acute grief, which is regarded as pathological, it becomes a preoccupation.

From a sociological perspective, on the other hand, grief is a concept embedded in culture. In this view, grief in nineteenth century America is explainable by the fact that society was undergoing a confusing and disorienting transition from an extended family system to a small family system. The small family system, moreover, is a form of socialization that creates overidentification and overdependence, and in which each person appears to the others to be irreplaceable. In this type of social group, denial is a comprehensible response to the death of a family member.

It can be seen in another of the precedents for postmortem photography. A form of painted mourning portraiture that became popular in the early nineteenth century depicts the deceased subject, usually a child, as alive. The only indication that the subject is dead is the presence of special symbols, recognizable to the nineteenth century viewer. A rose held downward or by a broken stem indicates a life cut short, as does the presence of morning glories--flowers that bloom, wilt, and drop from the vine in less than a day. A boat on calm water symbolizes an easy death, on stormy water a difficult one. A watch indicating the time of death might be prominently featured. More obvious indicators, like tombstones or weeping willows, are also sometimes employed.

Though most of these symbols do not appear in postmortem photographs--no doubt because the dead body is itself an unavoidable signifier of mortality--flowers do appear frequently, particularly in photographs of children. Some postmortem photographs, however, are evidence of an impulse very similar to that of the painted mourning portraits. Unlike most postmortem photographs, these show their subjects in postures of life, usually sitting up in chairs. The best of them almost preserve the illusion of life, while others fail pathetically. In some examples, an attempt has been made to further the illusion by hand-coloring the face of the dead person.

In the rouging of cheeks, the role of the postmortem photographer comes intriguingly close to that of an undertaker. The photographer, like the undertaker, uses color to restore the appearance of life. The two roles are similar in another, more general sense--the making of a postmortem photograph is, like embalming, a preservation of the body for the gaze of the observer. Both acts reject the finality of death. The work of the photographer is simply more permanent.

Early postmortem photographs have more variety than later ones. The body, for instance, may be depicted outside of the coffin, whereas in later pictures this almost never happens. Before the days in which the undertaker directed the proceedings, the photographer was given relative freedom to place and pose the body. After those days, the photographer was in most cases merely documenting the work of the undertaker. The pictures, like the funerary proceedings, followed a routine formula.

Even the early examples have predictable variations. Subjects are depicted either closeup or full length, either in profile or full face. The camera may be above or below the subject, but it is much more frequently at the same level. The face is almost always emphasized. The result is a very direct confrontation with a dead person. In later postmortem photographs, this confrontation is mitigated by the presence of flowers, sometimes to such an extent that the body becomes difficult to locate.

Postmortem photography also reflects more general social circumstances. The high incidence of photographs of dead children echoes the high infant mortality rate that existed throughout the century. Other manifestations of this are abundant. In American census files, for instance, children under the age of one year are often listed as "unnamed" or "anonymous" because their survival was not yet certain; frequent expressions of the tentativeness of young lives can also be found in the correspondence of the period. An entire body of consolation literature came into being to help grieving parents, especially mothers, in dealing with the loss of a child. An unsigned poem, published in Harper's Weekly in 1880, and part of this burgeoning literary genre, might easily be describing a postmortem photograph: "Look on his pretty face for just one moment, his braided frock, his dainty shoes,/His firm-shut hand, the favorite plaything in it...." A postmortem photograph was, in many cases, the only portrait made of a child. In the early years of photography, this was true of many postmortem pictures of the elderly as well. It remained true of children for the rest of the century.

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Recognizing Cased Image Types

Cased Images

In the early days of photography an image was often put in small wooden or plastic case. The Daguerreotype was made on an extremely delicate and fragile copper plate coated with silver. In order to protect the image from oxidation the plate was sealed into a glass "sandwich" to form what is called an image packet, which was then placed into a small wooden case for protection. A daguerreotype image outside its packet can be damaged merely by breathing on it. Therefore, the case was required to protect the glass image packet from being broken. An alternative to the Daguerreotype, called the Ambrotype appeared in the 1850s. It was a collodion image made on a glass plate. Because of the glass plate and cover plate used to protect the image, Ambrotypes were also put into a wooden case. The cheap tintype image was frequently sold in a fancy wooden case to make it appear like the more expensive Daguerreotype or Ambrotype. Most cases were constructed from small pieces of wood milled by hand and assembled in a factory. The case was usually given a decorative leather cover with embossed design and had a felt or velvet pad in the door facing the image and a small latch on one side. Surprisingly, there were cases made from an early molded thermoplastic. These are called Union Cases and are collected by some for their beauty and uniqueness alone without any image. Often, these cases are mistakenly referred to as being made of "gutta percha." Another common mistake is that people think any cased image is a daguerreotype. It appears the marketing skills of gallery operators is still at work over a hundred years later. The following paragraphs describe each type of image and give distinguishing characteristics.

Recognizing the Daguerreotype

The Daguerreotype has one of the most unique and recognizable images throughout the whole history of photographic processes. Because the daguerreotype is made on highly polished metal plate, the image has a reflective, mirror-like appearance. The image is often likened to one of the small holograms you might see in a child's set of stick-ons or affixed to a credit card. Like the hologram, the Daguerreotype image is only visible from certain angles. No other photographic image has the mirror-like non-image areas or "floating" hologram-like image of the daguerreotype. The Daguerreotype is a unique one-of-a-kind image not involving a negative and the image is a mirror-image (reversed left to right) of the original photographed scene.

Recognizing the Ambrotype

It can be very difficult to tell the Ambrotype and tintype apart. Many tintypes are sold as Ambrotypes Because the they generally fetch a higher price as an antique or collectible image. On the other hand, many are sold by mistake. Both the Ambrotype and the Tintype share the same whitish-gray low-contrast collodion image. The difference between the two processes is that the Abrotype is made by coating a plate of glass with collodion and the Tintype is made on a metal plate. If the Ambrotype is removed from its case, the glass plate can be readily seen. Also they Ambrotype may show a slight shadow or "three-dimensional" look because the glass plate may lift the image up from the background. The Ambrotype is a unique one-of-a-kind image not involving a negative and the image is a mirror-image (reversed left to right) of the original photographed scene.

Recognizing the Tintype

The Tintype is relatively easy to identify. Because the Tintype image is made on an iron plate, it will attract a magnet. Take a small magnet, such as found on a refrigerator, and see if the plate attracts it. If it does, you have a Tintype. Also, by removing the image from its case, you should be able to see the metal plate. The Tintype plate is also very light weight compared to the heavy glass Ambrotype plate.

Standard Daguerreotype Sizes

Whole plate - 6 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches
Half plate - 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 inches
Quarter plate - 3 1/4 by 4 1/4 inches
Sixth plate - 2 3/4 by 3 1/4 inches
Ninth plate - 2 by 2 1/2 inches
Sixteenth plate - 1 3/8 by 1 5/8 inches

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What is a:
Daguerreotype
Ambrotype
Tintype
Albumen
CDV
or Cabinet Card?

Daguerreotype:
A reverse image produced on a silver-coated copper plate. Frenchman, Louis Jacques
Mande Daguerre combined his own work with that of Joseph Nicephore Niepce and
brought the daguerreotype to the world. Announced publicly in France in 1839, the
daguerreotype quickly made its way to America. By late 1839 daguerreotypes were
being produced in America.

The daguerreotype has virtually no image grain and has rich black and bright whites.
The daguerreotype is considered to be the most desirable of the "hard images." It is
historically significant as the first practical photograph, and the image quality is
superior to that of the tintype and ambrotype. By 1860 the daguerreotype had largely
been replaced by the faster, cheaper and easier processes of the ambrotype and tintype.

Ambrotype:
A negative image produced on a glass plate, viewed as a positive by the addition of a
black backing or by being produced on a dark glass plate. The ambrotype had a
relatively short popular time span stretching from 1854 through 1865.

Tintype:
A negative image produced on a thin iron plate, viewed as positive due to the
undercoating of black Japan varnish. Cheap and durable, tintypes were popular from
the mid 1850's through the end of the 19th century. The tintype is the most plentiful of
the "hard images." Early tintypes were thick and heavy and usually bear the imprint of
manufacturer. The earliest tintype plates had one of the following two embossments:

MELAINOTYPE PLATE FOR NEFF'S PROCESS Pat19Feb56
or
GRISWOLD'S PATENTED OCT.26.1856

Tintypes produced after the middle 1860's were not cased. These were often put in
albums or paper holders that are the size of a carte de viste (CDV).

Albumen Prints :
A photographic print made on paper on which egg whites (albumen) are coated in
order to increase the paper's sensitivity and tonal qualities. A glass plate is used as
the negative. Egg whites were beaten to a froth and drops of a saturated solution of
potassium nitrate were added together with a solution of silver nitrate.

Carte De Viste or CDV:
A 2 1/4 by 3 1/2 inch photographic "calling card", usually created as one of a number
of images on a single glass photographic plate. Their popularity in America for
inexpensive portrait photography started about 1860. These are typically albumen
images (though early versions could be salt prints) mounted on card stock measuring
about 2 1/2 X 4 inches. Numerous images could be obtained from the negative unlike
the "hard images" (Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes) which were one of a kind.
This lead to people freely exchanging images. They collected images of their
relatives, fellow soldiers, famous people etc.

Cabinet Card:
An albumen print measuring about 4 X 5 inches on a stiff card mount measuring about
4 1/2 X 6 inches. These were popular from the late 1860's through the early part of
the twentieth century.