In Victorian times (childhood) mortality rates were very high and after the invention of the daguerreotype memorial portraiture – postmortem photography – became a common way of remembering the dead. Grieving families would commission these sad portraits of their recently deceased loved ones. Some of these photos can be very disturbing to the modern eye, but others are incredibly moving.
PS. There is some debate whether the photos of the woman with her eyes open and the two women under a tree are in fact post-mortem pictures, but i have included them nevertheless as they are simply beautiful.
The girl with the open eyes – hard to believe she’s dead. These are powerful photos.
i think you might be right…. but a beautiful photo it is indeed!