When it comes to the Victorian era, most people think of horse-drawn carriages, ladies' corsets and Charles Dickens. And hardly anyone thinks about what the people of that era did when they came to the funeral. This may seem shocking today, but at that time, when someone died in the house, the first person the family of the unfortunate person turned to was a photographer. Our review contains posthumous photographs of people who lived in the Victorian era.
In the second half of the 19th century, the Victorians developed a new tradition of taking photographs of dead people. Historians believe that at that time the services of a photographer were very expensive, and not many could afford such luxury during their lifetime. And only death and desire to do in last time something meaningful related to a loved one made them shell out for a photo. It is known that in the 1860s a photograph cost about $7, which is comparable to $200 today.
Another one probable cause such unusual Victorian fashion is the “cult of death” that existed in that era. This cult was started by Queen Victoria herself, who, after the death of her husband Prince Albert in 1861, never stopped mourning. At that time in England, after the death of someone close to them, women wore black for 4 years, and over the next 4 years they could only appear in white, gray or purple clothes. Men wore mourning bands on their sleeves for a whole year.
People wanted their deceased relatives to look as natural as possible, and photographers had their own techniques for this. A special tripod was widely used, which was installed behind the back of the deceased and made it possible to fix him in a standing position. It is by the presence of subtle traces of this device in the photo that in some cases it is only possible to determine that the photo shows a dead person.
In this photo, 18-year-old Ann Davidson with beautifully styled hair, in a white dress, surrounded by white roses, is already dead. It is known that the girl was hit by a train, only top part body, which was captured by the photographer. The girl's hands are arranged as if she were sorting flowers.
Very often, photographers photographed deceased people with objects that were dear to them during life. Children, for example, were photographed with their toys, and the man in the photo below was photographed in the company of his dogs.
To make posthumous portraits stand out from the crowd, photographers often included symbols in the image that clearly indicated that the child was already dead: a flower with a broken stem, an upside-down rose in the hands, a clock whose hands point to the time of death.
It would seem that the strange hobby of the Victorians should have sunk into oblivion, but in fact, even in the middle of the last century, post-mortem photographs were popular in the USSR and in other countries. True, the deceased were usually filmed lying in coffins. And about a year ago, posthumous photographs of Miriam Burbank from New Orleans appeared on the Internet. She died at the age of 53, and her daughters decided to see her off better world, having also organized a farewell party here - the same as she loved during her life. The photo shows Miriam with a menthol cigarette, beer, and a disco ball above her head.
In 1900, the leading chocolate factory Hildebrands released a series of postcards along with sweets that depicted. Some predictions are quite funny, while others are actually reflected in our time.
This is perhaps the most controversial issue. We have long been accustomed to the fact that in the houses of our grandmothers, great-grandmothers and parents, numerous portraits and general photos graphs of their ancestors and loved ones. In the old days, this was not considered something dangerous or reprehensible. But today there are a lot of ideas about what photographs of the dead mean negative energy and can affect the health and fate of living people
First of all, let's talk about a portrait of a person who has just died for a funeral procession. It should be a photo that both you and he liked. The portrait can be framed in a mourning photo frame or have a black ribbon placed on it in the lower right corner. After burial, the portrait of the deceased must remain in his house for 40 days. What to do with the portrait later is up to his loved ones to decide.
If after this time the wound of loss is still too fresh, then it is better to remove the photograph until calmer times. If the relatives have already managed to survive their loss and have mastered their nerves, then the portrait can be placed in the living room or another room other than the bedroom. Photos of deceased relatives in the house - the opinion of the church
Church's opinion on photographs of deceased relatives in the house
The Orthodox Church does not see anything wrong with photographs of deceased relatives being in the home of their relatives. We are all equal before God - both the dead and the living
Therefore, photographs of loved ones, especially loved ones and loving ones, can only bring a bunch of pleasant memories and fill the heart with purity and love. If the loss is too severe, then at first it is better to remove the photo out of sight. But there is absolutely no need to get rid of it forever. The time will come when the appearance of the deceased begins to blur and gradually disappear from a person’s memory - that’s when his photo will come to the rescue.
It is also better to temporarily hide a photograph of a deceased person with whom there is resentment or misunderstanding. After a certain period, everything negative emotions will fade into the background, and then you can see your loved one with a pure heart.
Where to put photographs of deceased relatives?
Of course, they need to be stored. Now, if we imagine that the relatives of great writers or other outstanding people would not keep their photographs, as we would imagine them to be. It’s always interesting to check the portrait drawn in your imagination famous person with the original. So in this situation, our grandchildren, great-grandchildren and other heirs will want to know what their ancestor looked like. Photography will help them with this.
By preserving photographs of our relatives, we preserve a piece of our history, which will be important for our offspring.
But the question of whether to expose these photographs to the public and ours, including our daily viewing, remains open.
Is it possible to hang portraits of deceased relatives on the wall?
Psychics claim that a photograph of the deceased can become a portal to other world. By hanging a portrait of the deceased on the wall, we can open the door to the world of the dead. If this door is constantly open, that is, the portrait will always be in sight, living people living in the house can feel the energy of the dead. Some relatives who have hung photographs of their deceased loved ones on the walls claim that they are constantly tormented by headaches, impotence, various kinds of diseases. All this may be just a far-fetched theory, or it may have some truth.
Photographs taken on the day of the funeral have especially strong energy. It’s not clear why people take these kinds of pictures at all. After all, they only bear human sorrow and grief. Such photos are unlikely to bring goodness and positivity into the home. It would be better to get rid of them.
How to store photos of deceased relatives?
According to the instructions of psychics, photographs of deceased relatives should be stored as follows:
It is advisable to separate photographs of the dead from photographs of living people
For photographs of the deceased, it is better to select a special photo album or photo box
If there is no separate album, then it is better to place such photos in a black opaque bag or envelope
If the photograph is general and there are also living people in it, then it is better to cut out the deceased from it and store it separately
In order for the photograph to be stored longer, it is better to laminate it
Photos of the deceased can be scanned and stored on a separate medium - disk, flash drive, website.
Karmic attachments, magic, other worlds - all this intertwines its roots with our reality. Ancestors looking at their followers from black and white photographs are inseparably linked with their family.
Each of us, with one hundred percent probability, keeps a century-old memory at home - a photo album of our grandparents. Did you know, readers, that keeping such things in a living space is very dangerous. The world of the dead and the world of the living are in different realities. But if you make an idol out of a deceased person. Put his photo in a prominent place, constantly remember him, or carry a photo of a non-existent person with you. Dead energy can begin to feed on your living energy, and at any moment you will find yourself close to the object of imitation.
Your safety - storing photos in photo albums, remembering them only in memorial days and no fanaticism.
1. So if the photos are just lying in an album, and you sometimes look at them when you indulge in nostalgia, there is nothing wrong with that. But if they often flash before your eyes, this will most likely lead to worsening general health and emotional instability.
2. Photos of the deceased should be kept separately from photos of living people. If you have “general” photos, store them in an album for the deceased. Some even recommend cropping such pictures in order to separate living energy from dead energy.
They also say that you need to store them in a black album, in a black folder, or at least in an impenetrable black bag. And you can open a treasure trove of old photographs only on days of remembrance of the dead.
What do you think about this?
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After death loved one a photograph is that thing that visually reminds us of the deceased and stores information about him. From an esoteric point of view, you need to store photographs of deceased people according to special rules, to avoid negative impact dead energy and on living people.
What is the danger of photos of dead people?
The image of the deceased is connected with the world of the dead. If a person has passed away, then with the help of his photograph a connection with another world arises. Contact with such a photo can be dangerous, so you should not hang images of deceased people around the apartment or look at them too often.
Photos of dead people open a window into the other world that can harm a living person. Of course, there is nothing wrong if you keep photos of deceased relatives at home and periodically review them. However, frequent access to such images, and even more so their presence in plain sight (on the wall, in a frame on the nightstand) will not lead to anything good. First of all, such photos weaken the energy of a living person and deprive him of protection. The consequences could be even worse. Weakening energy can lead to deterioration of health and psycho-emotional instability.
Photos from funerals are also dangerous. For some reason, some people take pictures from the cemetery in order to once again remember the feelings they experienced. Such photos will constantly return a living person to his tragedy and will not give him a peaceful life. It’s better not to take such pictures at all. If they are, then it makes sense to get rid of them.
How to properly store photographs of deceased people
- It is recommended to store photographs of the deceased separately from photographs of living people.
- It is advisable to store them in a black bag or black folder.
- If the image contains not only a deceased person, but also a living one, then it is better to crop the picture in order to separate the living energy from the dead.
Don't look too often at photos of deceased loved ones. It is best to look at such photos on the days of remembrance of the dead. We wish you good luck and don't forget to press the buttons and
18.03.2015 09:25
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When thinking about the Victorian era, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Maybe the romantic novels of the Bronte sisters and the sentimental ones of Charles Dickens, or maybe tight ladies' corsets and even Puritanism?
But it turns out that the era of Queen Victoria’s reign left us another legacy - the fashion for post-mortem photographs of deceased people, which, when you learn about it, you will consider this period the darkest and most terrible in the history of mankind!
There are many reasons and versions of where the tradition of photographing the dead came from, and they are all closely intertwined...
And perhaps we should start with the “cult of death.” It is known that since the death of her husband, Prince Albert, in 1861, Queen Victoria has never stopped mourning. Moreover, even mandatory requirements– after the death of loved ones, women wore black clothes for another four years, and in the next four they could only wear white, gray or purple. Men had to wear a black bandage on their sleeve for exactly a year.
The Victorian era is the period of the highest child mortality, especially among newborns and children of primary school age!
The posthumous photo of the child was all that remained in the parents’ memory.
And the creation of such “sentimental” souvenirs turned into an ordinary and soulless process - dead children were dressed up, their eyes were painted and their cheeks were rosy, they were laid on the laps of all family members, placed or sat on a chair with their favorite toys.
The last girl in the “train” didn’t just blink...
Well, isn't it noticeable that someone is holding this child on their lap?
And one of these sisters is not resting either...
In general, the photographer did everything so that the dead family member in the photo would be no different from the living ones!
One of the most important reasons for the emergence of creepy post-mortem photographs in the Victorian era was the dawn of the art of photography and the invention of the daguerreotype, which made photography accessible to those who could not afford to paint a portrait, and... the opportunity to immortalize the dead.
Just think, the price of one photograph during this period cost about $7, which in today’s money reaches up to $200. And would anyone during their lifetime be able to fork out that much for just one shot? But a tribute to the deceased is sacred!
It's terrible to say, but post-mortem photos were fashion and business at the same time. Photographers have been improving their skills in this direction tirelessly.
You won’t believe it, but in order to capture the deceased standing or sitting in the frame, they even invented a special tripod!
And sometimes in postmortem photographs it was impossible to find the dead person at all - and this is in complete absence Photoshop... Such photographs were identified only by special symbols, such as the hands of a clock stopped at the date of death, a broken stem of a flower, or an inverted rose in the hands.
The heroine of this photograph, 18-year-old Ann Davidson, is already dead in the frame. It is known that she was hit by a train and only her upper body was left unharmed. But the photographer easily coped with the task - in the printed photo the girl, as if nothing had happened, is sorting through white roses...
What is terrifying is that in the post-mortem photographs next to dead child or even the eldest member of the family, everyone else alive is always smiling and looks quite cheerful!
Have these parents not yet realized that their child is dead?!?
Well, let's start from the beginning? What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the Victorian era?