Photographing deceased realitives

[irishvintagecars]

looking back now i still find it strange, clearing out an old chest of drawers belonging to my late foster mum to find pictures of her in her coffin. Now this spooked me out for a while as being irish i had not seen this been done before. My brother in law took the picture and all i want to know is this normal practice in england where he comes from?:)

[ozziepuppy]

It has been a normal practice for all of my relatives in Iowa. Don't know about other families.

[irishvintagecars]

why?:)

[ckort]

My aunt was photographing my grandfather in his casket as well. I thought it was kinda strange. Always wanted to ask her why, just couldn't work up the nerve. For me, the last photograph of a loved one should be bright eyed and a big smile.

[Spike44]

Why indeed!!
I believe it was done in England years ago but died out. :)

Seriously, it was done when cameras and photos were rare therefore this was the only memento of a loved one and they were often posed as if alive. Nowadays, I think it is silly given how easy it is to have/take photos while people are alive (starting with overload of early baby pictures). Why you would want a picture of whoever dead - beats me.

[dengar]

When my grandmother passed away I took a few pictures of her in the casket but I did it from far away, it just didnt seem right going right up to her and snapping a picture of her. It felt really weird at first but to this day I still find myself looking at them every once in a while, so Im glad I did it.

[overclock]

Finally a subject that you don't have to worry about posing, making sure they are looking at the camera, don't have to check to see if they blinked. This may finally be my calling.

And some funerals can be funny. At one relative's funeral the very last strap holding up the casket broke and the casket stood up on end. That would be another picture not to miss.

[DC Fan]

One century ago, (http://www.squidoo.com/memorial-photography) this was a common practice. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-mortem_photography)

[lgunnz]

There are pictures of my mother in her coffin, don't know who took them, don't want to see them...

[Jon Foster]

I've taken pictures like this before. For the most part it was to show people that weren't able to be there in person.

Jon.

[440roadrunner]

I prefer to remember my Mom, Dad, and others, in happier memories I can't fathom why anyone would want to "savor" the time of their death. (Maybe there's something to be said for a "wake?"

I suffer from a certain amount of anxiety, which the esteemed medical communtiy has not been able to resolve. So for me, times of stress go far beyond what others may be feeling. For me, it's a struggle just to get through that day.

[tomd]

pictures of deceased in the coffin......good luck getting a model release;)

[nemo man]

Interesting thread. Here in the UK it's considered very bad form to take pictures at a funeral. Equally, taking pictures of a dead body before the funeral is bad form. I don't know anyone who has done it.

BUT... here in the UK it is quite OK for the press to photograph/film the dead where there is a public interest. A recent example is the dead soldiers regularly brought back from Afghanistan who have been filmed/photographed as the cortege passed through various places. Celebrity funerals also get photographed. It seems that the last two examples are seen as the 'public domain' and are therefore open to be shot. Personal family affairs are seen more as a focus of personal grief, and as such it is frowned upon to shoot.

[SOK]

:shock:

In Australia, open caskets are fairly uncommon...

The idea of photographing the contents of one is....pretty out there!

[MDJAK]

to each his/her own, I guess.

me