Without and Within: Victorian Mourning and Treatment of the Dead

Post-Mortem Photos

Follow the link to open and view post-mortem pictures from The Burns Archive.  These post-mortem portraits toe the line between the objectification of the dead and their influence and subjectivity within the realm of the living. Here the photographer would position, pose, and colorize the dead to give them a living hue. Though these objects of devotion were for the surviving families, the dead is not allowed to be forgotten, nor even viewed overtly as a corpse. Rather, they are positioned in manners that reflect their lives. I include these here to complicate the relationship of the dead and the mourning survivors. 
 

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