Unsettling Old Photos of the “Living” Dead

Posted by Miss Cellania in Pictures on August 31, 2009 at 12:10 am

Is the man in this picture dead or alive? It’s not a silly question. In the early days of photography, dead bodies would be photographed for posterity. Often this would be the only picture ever taken of the person. Sometimes the bodies were posed as if they were alive.

There’s something just unspeakably creepy about this fireman. At first glance, he looks like a normal, awkwardly-posed guy from the 19th century. But upon closer inspection, you notice a few tell-tale signs: a rigid pose and fingers, a stand not quite completely hidden behind his feet, which is holding him up by some unseen armature on his back, liberal amounts of rouge applied to too-white cheeks, and those blank, blank eyes.

This picture is available on eBay. See more possibly post-mortem posed portraits at mental_floss. Link

 
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Möbius Does It On The Same Side

Memento Mori Watch

Posted by Alex in Fashion, Gadget, Pictures on December 14, 2008 at 3:25 am


Photo: Miles Pocket Watches

Oobject, a neat visual directory of gadgets, has an interesting list of Memento mori watches. Memento Mori, latin for "Remember that you will die," is an art genre that span a wide range of styles, but has one purpose: to remind you of your own mortality.

This one above, the Skull and Bones pocket watch, is listed by Miles Pocket Watches as an original creation based on a form of watches made nearly two centuries ago.

Link

 
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