Photographs of parents posing next to their dead children and the sound of dripping water simulating ice melting over a decomposing body are both disturbing and heart-breaking components of a new exhibition at the Merchant House Museum.
"Memento Mori" includes more than 50 postmortem memorial photographs and ephemera from the Burns Archive which is considered to be the largest private archive of historic photography. The exhibition also includes modern takes on memorial photography.
Postmortem photographs became popular after the introduction of photography in the mid-19th century. Although it seems morbid, photographs of the dead were done out a desire to preserve an image of a loved one.
"These portraits were not for public consumption," said Dr. Stanley B. Burns, 72, the archives' owner. "They were held very close to the chest."
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