Victorian Death Photography: A Macabre Hobby

Life was hard during Victorian times. The choking smog of the Industrial Revolution + SPEAK UP EXPLAINS "Lo smog asfissiante della rivoluzione industriale". L’epoca della rivoluzione industriale, che iniziò in Inghilterra alla fine del XVIII secolo, è caratterizzata dalle innovazioni tecnologiche e dalla proliferazione delle fabbriche. Proprio in quel periodo nacque il termine smog, un anglicismo formato da smoke (‘fumo’) e fog (‘nebbia’), che rende l’idea della nebbia scura e pesante causata dalle industrie. , the harsh + harsh: dure living conditions and the frequent epidemics in a world before antibiotics meant that death played a big part in society. Most families, even from the upper classes + upper classes: classe alta , lost children to one disease or another.

Wax mask

The Victorians, however, found ways to cope + to cope: affrontare , even though they were ways that would be considered macabre by modern standards. Death masks of the deceased were created in wax + wax: cera . It was also normal for people to cut a lock of hair + lock of hair: ciuffo , particularly from a dead child, and have it made + have it made: incaricare into a piece of jewellery – something we would find creepy + creepy: raccapricciante today.

PHOTOGRAPHS

It was the invention of photography in the first half of the 19th century that gave the Victorians the perfect means + means: mezzo of immortalising their loved ones. At first, portrait photographs were a luxury that few could afford + to afford: permettersi , but as techniques developed and costs decreased + to decreased: diminuire , family photographs became accessible to more people. We take family photographs for granted + to take for granted: dare per scontato today, but for a grieving + grieving: in lutto Victorian parent, the realistic image of a dead child had huge emotional value. And so the genre of Victorian death photography was born.

LIFELIKE

The dead were often photographed in their coffins + coffins: bare , perhaps surrounded by flowers, books or some favourite objects. But, as the photographs were so amazingly lifelike + lifelike: realista, vivido , many families preferred portraits where the deceased seemed to be alive. Sometimes the bodies were arranged + to arrange: sistemare  as though + as though: come se the person had simply fallen asleep + to fall asleep: addormentarsi in a chair. 

HEALING

Alternatively, they were put into more dynamic poses and held up with strings + held up with strings: sostenuto con corde , supported by specially made structures, or held in the arms of living relatives + relatives: parenti . This cannot have been a pleasant job for the photographer. Travel was much slower in those days and the memorial photograph was almost always taken after rigor mortis, or even decay + decay: putrefazione , had set in + to set in: fissare . It may seem like a terribly traumatic experience for young children to pose alongside + alongside: insieme a their dead siblings + siblings: fratelli (maschi e femmine) , especially if the body was already decaying, but death was such a normal part of life for the Victorians that this was a way of finding condolence in their grief + grief: pena, dolore .

RETOUCHING

Later, photographic techniques advanced sufficiently to allow Photoshop-like touches. Rosy cheeks + rosy cheeks: guance rosse or open eyes were sometimes painted onto the negative to make the deceased look more lifelike. Because of the long exposure time + exposure time: tempo di esposizione necessary, the dead family member was often the clearest figure in the portrait, because he or she remained perfectly still + still: fermo .

CAPTURING THE SPIRIT

Unsurprisingly, interest in spiritualism and clairvoyance + clairvoyance: chiaroveggenza was also growing at the time, and the Victorian fascination with seances + SPEAK UP EXPLAINS "Sedute spiritiche". Il termine seances è un francesismo che viene dal verbo seoir, che vuol dire ‘sedersi’. Infatti le persone che praticavano sedute spiritiche per mettersi in contatto con l’aldilà erano sedute in cerchio intorno a un tavolo. Un sinonimo di questo sostantivo, apparso per la prima volta all’inizio del XIX secolo, è sitting o session. led to an interest in photographing ghosts and spirits. The American photographer, Willian H. Mumler, is usually credited + to credit: attribuire with being the first ‘spirit photographer’, after he accidentally produced a double exposure photo that seemed to show a transparent ghost floating behind a living person. He soon had a thriving + thriving: prospero business in ‘photographing’ the spirits of the dead. Fred A. Hudson introduced spirit photography to Britain in 1872. He worked with the medium Georgiana Houghton, ‘photographing spirits’ at her seances. Although the spirit photographers were later proved to be charlatans, for a time they were supported by many famous people, including the writer Arthur Conan Doyle.

UNDERSTANDING THE PAST

Many of these haunting images of the Victorian dead remain with us, and they are intensely disturbing + disturbing: inquietante . Yet considering the hardships + hardships: avversità  endured + to endure: sopportare at the time, it is not surprising that Victorians had something of an obsession with death. Cathartic rituals such as these helped them deal with their grief and hold on + to hold on: afferrarsi to the memory of the loved ones they had lost.