Memento Mori

By Crusader1307

 The practice of photographing the recently deceased, often with living Family members, was known as Memento Mori (or Memento de Morte), "Souvenirs of Death". Originating in the 19th Century (England), the practice spread throughout the World. In theory, the "Art" involved the "lifelike" posing of the dead to often give them a "peaceful, sleeping" demeanor. Taken with living Family members, it provided a lasting memory for the deceased Family (and made death a somewhat easier load to carry). Children deaths were often the worst of burdens on a Family. Often great care and hours would be spent posing the dead child with toys and positioned very lifelike. In some cases (although rare), the deceased would be photographed with their Family in a coffin. The Mori Industry was very popular and lucrative for a time. Often, special equipment was needed to assist the Photographer. "Posing Trees", which were wood and wire stands designed to hold the body straight up, with limb attachments that created an almost exo-skeletal frame, were used. Make-up wad also critical. In many cases, Mori Photos had to be taken shortly after death (and before actual embalming practices). Great effort was taken to avoid t.he obvious early stages of decomposition. Cold rooms, chilled by ice - were often used to help in this. By the 1920s, the Mori Industry died out (as people's perceptions of death changed as well). Although somewhat morbid to some, the collecting of Mori photos is actually still very much "alive".