Post Mortem Photography

Victorian era parents posing with their deceased daughter.

Nineteenth-century photograph of a deceased child with flowers

The earliest post-mortem photographs are usually close-ups of the face or shots of the full body and rarely include the coffin. The subject is usually depicted so as to seem in a deep sleep, or else arranged to appear more lifelike. Children were often shown in repose on a couch or in a crib, sometimes posed with a favorite toy or other plaything. It was not uncommon to photograph very young children with a family member, most frequently the mother. Adults were more commonly posed in chairs. Flowers were also a common prop in post-mortem photography of all types. Wikipedia

Coretta Scott King

Coretta Scott King and her daughter, Yolanda, photographed by Moneta Sleet for EBONY in 1958. Moneta Sleet was the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer who took the famous shot of Mrs. King with her daughter Bernice at Dr. King’s funeral in 1968.

via vintageblackglamour

Martin Luther King Jr. with Coretta Scott King

Martin Luther King Jr. with Coretta Scott King and their daughter Yolanda in 1956 in Montgomery, Ala. (Dan Weiner)

Source: boston | The Boston Globe

African American Portrait

Daughter of Thomas E. Askew, head-and-shoulders portrait, with open book , 1899 - 1900,  Askew Thomas E. photographer

Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA |   African American Photographs Assembled for 1900 Paris Exposition

Madam Van Cromburger

Washington, DC: Madam Van Cromburger and daughter. 1920

Source: loc.gov | Library of Congress

Madame Wellington Koo

 

Madame Wellington Koo (née Hui-lan Oei) (1899-1992), Daughter of Oei Tiong Ham; wife of Chinese diplomat and politician Vi Kyuin Wellington Koo

Source: media.tumblr  | oldmasterpaintingsdrawings