Abraham Lincoln
It may seem morbid today to think of people making a mask from a dead body's face or taking photos of the dead in caskets, but in the Victorian Era, perhaps influenced by the Civil War and the rise of manufacturing work, and city living, it seems that folks got kind of, well, focused on death.
Mary Queen of Scots
She reminds me a lot of the actress, Helena Bonham Carter
(English poet)
Napolean Bonaparte
John Dillinger
(or should I write - e. e. cummings?)
(a mask I'd love to have a copy of)
As disturbing as these death masks are, there is something much more disturbing. Long ago, in early days of photography in the late 1800s, families had no photographs, no memories. When someone died, they might have had a chance to get a photograph finally and it might just be in their coffin.
I remember as a kid going through my mother's hidden photos from her childhood. She grew up in Depression Era West Virginia. The family in this isolated area married their first cousins for generations. Her mother was the only midwife and healer, her father a conductor on the railroad and a gambler and drinker who rarely brought home enough for the family.
I found a photo of the family at a lakeside, all standing around a man in a box. I asked and she nonchalantly announced it was her uncle who had died.
When I got over how sad that was, I realized something - the family had few photos, few memories, few proof they even existed.
These practices really motivate the "gothic" style that today's horror lovers relate to. If you think goth means black clothing and dark thoughts, it is fueled by the Victorian Era's fear and overexposure to death and the ponderings of Darwinism science versus spiritual Heaven.
I remember, when I ran an anxiety disorder self-help group in the early 90s. One man kept pondering death with tormenting and terrifying thoughts of dying. He said he was afraid of death, but when I asked him one simple question, his true fear became exposed -
"Why is death terrifying?"
"Because I've still got so much more I want to do."
"Then your fear isn't death. You fear life. You are tormenting yourself with all you want to get done, but haven't tackled. To you death, is a regret."
We began a long course of him exploring his list of must-do's and tiny things he could do each day to focus on living instead of dying.
It's very popular these days to have a memento paw print of a pet that has passed.
I like to think that, in this day and time, when someone passes, there are plenty of photo memories and, if one wants to create memories you never had, like posing with family members or in amazing locations, AI can easily provide.