Up until the early 1850’s, photography was a tedious process. The first photograph took 8 hours to develop. Eventually, the time got shaved down to 15 minutes, but that is still a very long time to hold still. It was also very expensive, which is why only certain families could afford it. Many times, the only time a person would have their photo taken was after they died. This may seem bizarre to us, who live in a world where photos develop instantly and are accessible to almost everyone. Because we’re so unfamiliar with it, we tend to get things wrong. Let us dive in and discuss what is truth, and what is not.
Myth #1 The Standing Corpse
If you ever see a photo of a person, even a child, and it claims that they are dead, this is a hoax. The fact of the matter is, dead weight is too heavy for a fragile mechanism to hold up.
But Acantha, there’s clearly something in the background of this photo holding up this child. If this kid were alive, wouldn’t he hold himself up?
Good question! This child is holding himself up because he is in fact alive. The mechanism you see behind him helps to hold his body in place because, as mentioned before, it took a long time for photos to develop and, well, kids aren’t great for holding still. Adults would also use these stands to keep their head and shoulders in place. The image below shows the stand supporting the person at their neck and midback, which would quickly tire out. But as you can see, the person is clearly on their own two feet.
Myth #2: The hidden mothers
Nope, this is not just a funky looking chair. This mother is holding up her infant children, but didn’t want to be in the photo herself. What was her solution? A simple sheet over the head works wonders. This practice was not only used in regular photography, but post mortem photography as well.
Myth #3: Dead or Alive?
The little girl on the far left is making a very odd face, but remember what we said before; standing means living. She’s probably trying not to fall asleep, but she’s not dead.
Although this baby has her eye open, I believe that she is deceased. Notice how much clearer her face comes into focus compared to her mother’s? It’s easy to keep still when you’re dead. Also, the mother is very noticeably upset, likely crying.
This young woman is clearly deceased, and likely has been for several days. Perhaps in another post I will go into the details of victorian home burials and such. Clearly, this woman is deceased.
Although the kids above, particularly the one on the right, looks like she’s been out of it for the last year, she’s not dead. Once again, just a tired kid. You can maybe even see some of the stands I mentioned before in the background.
Although this may be one of the most awkward family photos I’ve ever seen, none of these people are dead. Poor guy was simply made to sit in a chair that was much too small for him.
This concludes my post today, I hope you enjoyed learning about post mortem photography. Be sure to subscribe for more great content and follow me on social media to keep up. You can find the Death Files on twitter or tumblr, and on Instagram @death_files_official.
Watch yourself out there,
– Acantha Crescent-
Death Files 
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