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Stupid Brain, Go to Sleep
Sep. 27th, 2012 11:28 pmGhoulish websurfing + insomnia means I am now unable to stop formatting an argument about why I think the posed Victorian post-mortem photograph* is a myth**, and I don't even know if it's a particularly widespread myth.
I also have some thoughts about why modern viewers might mistake Victorian photos of living subjects for post-mortems.
Arrgh. I'm not even a proper historian, just a geek with a morbid turn of mind.
* As opposed to post-mortem photos where the subject is (a) clearly dead, usually in his/her coffin, or (b) retouched to look alive, but still in a supine position - usually with the aim of portraying the deceased as peacefully asleep.
** Short version - years ago I read The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, and recall a passage about why hospital staff hate hate hate it when a patient dies in a chair and doesn't get discovered until rigor mortis has set in...
I also have some thoughts about why modern viewers might mistake Victorian photos of living subjects for post-mortems.
Arrgh. I'm not even a proper historian, just a geek with a morbid turn of mind.
* As opposed to post-mortem photos where the subject is (a) clearly dead, usually in his/her coffin, or (b) retouched to look alive, but still in a supine position - usually with the aim of portraying the deceased as peacefully asleep.
** Short version - years ago I read The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, and recall a passage about why hospital staff hate hate hate it when a patient dies in a chair and doesn't get discovered until rigor mortis has set in...
