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Gregory Sullivan | all galleries >> A Collection Of Pictures That Deal With Death >> Post Mortem Photography > Dead ? I can't say for sure .
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Dead ? I can't say for sure .


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k 10-Sep-2015 17:26
the feet may be blurred because they're resting on the knees of a person under a sheet, who has moved. i can't imagine a living child holding her eyes so steadily for the ten minutes required to expose the film.
LizZid 10-Apr-2015 04:57
Many of the babies, children, and adults may be very close to death. It was common practice to also have photos taken of dying, very close-to-death children, and some teens and adults as well. You can see that in some of the "deceased" photos, the teens and adults are dying, but still, by habit, make eye-contact with the camera. Compare some of these dying eye contact with camera to some where their eyes are looking off into space...or maybe even taking their last breaths. I agree about the legs on the baby pic...they are moving because it is blurred. However, the baby might not have had the strength to move much more if she/he were sickly, weak, and on the verge of death, Just some thoughts, and the idea that some of these subjects may be close to dying or taking their last breaths came from another source other than myself, and I believe it to have been a trusted source.
cindy w 13-Feb-2015 13:40
the eyes could be glass? i did read somewhere they were sometimes used by the person who prepared the body for the pic. it was prob very expensive tho. if so the babe is passed.
Valerie Smith 25-Jul-2013 00:52
It looks to me like the photo has a haze around it. I don't think the feet themselves probably are just hazy. Look at how fixed the eyes are. Also I have 4 daughters. From 12 t o 11 months. You would not in any way shape or be able to get them to hold their heads still enough fora15 minute exposure time andnot move their heads. The baby's head had to have held still for a long time its face is not at all blurred. That's why babies only had pictures taken 90% of the time when they passed or were asleep.
Ingrid 30-Jan-2013 18:27
Look at the baby's feet, They're blurred as if they were moving. The baby also look like she wants to cry. I think this child was alive.
LJ 07-Aug-2012 18:03
It's called the "ghost mom". What was identified as pillows is actually a blanket covering the mom who is holding the baby
Steffi 19-Jul-2012 18:29
Cindy, who knows how old this child is? This baby could be a couple months old and need help sitting up. My baby boy is 2 months and he's pretty big
Cindy 15-Jul-2012 06:04
My guess is that the child has died because at her/his age the child would be sitting or standing unassisted, not propped with pillows. Also the baby's left arm is in a strange position and the index fingers are pointing. But the baby does "look alive". It's hard to tell...
Brandy 30-Jun-2012 05:33
Possibly dead..I read that the eyes were sometimes propped open or even painted onto the picture to make the subject seem more "lifelike".
Guest 16-Nov-2010 16:13
Bright eyes. More than likely alive
Guest 20-Dec-2009 21:33
Probably not dead. the pupils of the eye are too small in comparison to the iris.