Pelin Aytemiz / DRAFT PAPER

DEATH AS ABSENCE: DEATH RELATED PHOTOGRAPHIC

Before the invention of photography, the memory of the dead was secured in the form of

charms, portrait paints and personal keepsakes. Those keepsakes included the letters,

jewelry, and clothing that once belonged to the deceased (Harvey, 1997, p.56). As

Harvey (1997) states, “post mortem, death masks and dead-bed pictures of the dying and

the dead were the final opportunities to secure a loved one’s image both for posterity and

against inevitable corruption and decay” (56). Mourning was a standardized social ritual

particularly during the Victorian period, with fashion, jewelry and photography all

playing an important role in the public representation of grief (Batchen, 2004, p. 36).

Starting from the 1840s with the daguerreotype technology, taking the picture of the

deceased became a popular practice of mourning and memorialization process especially

in America and Europe replacing posthumous paintings and dead-masks.

Postmortem photography, different from photographs that are capturing a living subject,

had a motivation to take the last photograph of the deceased along with the members of

the family. The early photographic technologies, like daguerreotypes, required a very

long exposure time. Therefore, one should pose motionless like a dead to avoid blur and

to look life-like/alive. In the case of post-mortem photographs an opposite situation is

observed. The one that "poses" is the dead subject and the source of the challenge is not

to control the motion but to set up the motionless subject in such a pose that it looks

alive. Several constructs with clamps and wires are used to erect the dead body and give
it a proper pose. Mostly the pupils are painted on the closed eyelids. The cheeks are

painted to a soft pink imitating a healthy look. For instance the dead infant is frequently

held by the mother position in such a way that it looks like having nap in the arms of her

guardian. Jay Ruby (1995) writes that; "'the last sleep' pose represents an attempt to

actually conceal death. For want of a better label, this style can be titled alive, yet dead"

(72). In the case of postmortem photograph, what these photographic objects triggers is,

the oscillation between the deceased’s absence and presence at the same time. Although

the body is present, one can not talk about the presence of the subject. The dead body is

constructed in such a way that it creates a visual depiction of the dead as if in a peaceful

sleep but there is the inevitable awareness of its performative and artificial quality.

In the modern era, the tradition of photographing the corpse and having a postmortem

photograph mostly disappeared both in Europe and the U.S.A. As Philippe Aries (1974)

argues, what marks today’s traditional ideas and feelings toward death is; it’s being

forbidden and taboo. For Aries (1979), “death, so omnipresent in the past that it was

familiar” is now effaced, disappeared and become shameful (p. 85). In this respect, the

objective of this study is to explore and discuss the presence and absence of postmortem

photography tradition in Turkey and, having in mind the traditional Victorian ways of

photographing the dead, to ask whether one can find a similar practice of remembering

the dead in the contemporary Turkey, in the domain of the family. Together with the

changing attitudes toward death and the radical changes in the nature of the photograph

(from analogue to digital), one can say that, in order to represent death and grief, one may

not need to photograph the body of the deceased. Even though some photographs do not
include the dead body of the deceased, such images may function like postmortem

photographs and can be regarded as memorial objects commenting on the death of the

family member.

The study I conducted in the official archives and unofficial ones like antique

markets, the secondary literature I have read and the photographers that I

interviewed lead me to the non-existence of post-mortem photography tradition in

Turkey. I have encountered many “photographs of the dead” belonging to different

genre of photographs which can be categorized roughly under such contexts: a)

natural disasters, (b) forensics and medical education (c) war / punishment and (d)

the ones that are at the threshold of public-private domains and histories1. But as

Bahattin Öztuncay (2003) stresses, “the photographs of the dead, which are taken

after war, armed conflicts or criminal acts to be used as newsworthy items, are not

within the definition of post-mortem photography” (p. 67). That is why, it is

important to differentiate the context and reason of production.

Post-mortem photography was a common genre in 19th century Europe and

America, the examples that are produced at Ottoman Empire in Istanbul are

extremely rare. Despite the lack of a tradition, there are a couple of post-mortem

photographs produced at the photography studios of the Ottoman Empire. These

photographs mostly relate to İstanbul’s minorities. At this point, my research

1
The first three categories cannot be regarded as post-mortem photographs as they are captured in
extraordinary occasions, depicting unnatural deaths or are not produced as a part of a mourning ritual.
However, the ones that oscillate between private and public domains and histories should be discussed
further. However I avoid including these discussions. Will be present in my dissertation.
question evolved and I started asking whether there are ways to express grief and

longing without including the body of the dead. For example, in Victorian era

mourning practices, one can also observe portraits that signify not presence but

exactly the opposite; absence in order to memorialize the deceased. An empty crib

or an empty rolling chair can signify the absence / death of the owners. Similary If

there is no common practice of taking the last image of the death, there should be

another photographical practice that pairs and expresses death related feelings,

attitudes and issues in Turkey.

In critical photography theory, photography has always been associated with death.

Together with photographs there is always the desire of being immortal or the fear

of being forgotten (Barthes; Batchen; Sontag; Silverman). In particular, Barthes

(2000) describes the close relation between photography and death in a striking

way as follows:

the photograph represents that very subtle moment when, to tell the truth, I

am neither subject nor object but a subject who feels he is becoming an

object: I then experience a micro version of death (of parenthesis): I am truly

becoming a specter (p. 14).

Barthes (2000) sees death implicit in every photograph. For him, this is the

scandalous effect of photography. “Ultimately, what I am seeking in the photograph

taken of me”, he writes, “is death”. For him “Death is the eidos of that Photograph.”

(p.15). In this sense, if death is so intrigued in the core of the photographs in some

cases the close relation between the death and the photograph is enough to
comemorate the deceased loved ones. Even though when the photograph is not

depicting the dead body of the beloved like the postmortem photographs, the

presence of a photograph may replace and represent the actual body.

Death as Absence: Photograph in a Photograph

photographs the dead body is neither present nor hidden. The real body of the

beloved is exchanged by a symbolic one: the photographic body/representation.

There are examples in which one sees that the photographic body symbolically

replaces the dead body of the deceased. In figure (*), which is set up in Mr. İbrahim's

grave, includes his portrait. This is a modified image produced using retouch

techniques. The retouched and inscribed photograph shown in figure (*) is a rich

example that reflects bereavement in a graveyard set up dating back to 6.07.1926. In

the tombstone it writes “Trabzonlu İbrahim” in Ottoman Turkish. The living portrait

that is afterward added to the photograph probably belongs to Mr. İbrahim. This

extra portrait added is juxtaposed with an image of lifebuoy. As Mr. İbrahim is

originating from a coastal city, one can speculate about the lifebuoy that frames his

portrait, as a symbol either about his death in a maritime accident, or as a symbol of

his membership of the naval community.

This photograph is a multilayered cultural text that comments on the death of a

loved one. Mr. İbrahim’s dead body is covered with earth. Although it cannot be

regarded as a typical post-mortem photograph as the body of the deceased is not

visible, the presence of Mr. İbrahim and the pain of his absence are emphasized
several times in this photograph. He is not only present in the text written on the

gravestone, but also made visible by the inclusion of the extra portrait of him. This

portrait is a representation that allows one to see and look at him. The dead body

that one can not see is made visible by this extra portrait added. This photograph

both includes Mr. İbrahim's dead body that is hidden and a photographic

representation of him at the same time. While looking at the portrait of Mr. İbrahim,

one accepts his absence and death at the same time.

The man sitting by the graveside gazes at the grave of Mr. İbrahim. The direction of

his gaze invites the viewer to acknowledge the grave and his death. His folded hands

work as a way to illustrate his respect. He is as if in dialogue with Mr. İbrahim. At the

back side of the photograph, we get a hint of what he could be saying. The subject

described his feelings in communication with the photograph in these words:

"Bedbaht eder hayat cihan eyler muhabet nefesindeki hatırasından hayaliyle meşgul

bir anda perişanım! / Bedbaht İbrahim’in hayat ile mematı yanındaki hatıralarının

hayaletiyle berat-ı perişanım." For him, this photograph is an evidence of his

miserable state. Coupled with the inscription, the body language and costume of the

subject and the added extra modified portrait photograph of Mr. İbrahim, this

layered image involves theatricality that one can see in a Victorian post-mortem

photograph. Mr. İbrahim's real dead body hidden under the grave, his figurative

body seen in the photographic representation, the subject at the graveside

expressing his misery about the loss with a text, all work together. All these facets
make this image not that different than a post-mortem photograph similar to the

ones that are produced in the Victorian Era.

Although it is not a common practice, without any modification, similar set ups are

also constructed. The inclusion of the photograph of the deceased at the top (fig. **)

that is decorated by flowers of mourning can be an example of photograph in a

photograph produced without any photographic retouch technique. This

photograph is the last image taken of the deceased together with his image and

body. In 19th century mourning photography tradition in Europe involved

surrounding photographs with garlands woven with dried flowers and human hair.

Batchen (2004) says that in this tradition “a visual trace of the body of the deceased

is encircled, embraced, and accentuated by parts of the same body (…) we view

photo-objects that attempts to transcend the hard fact of death with the sweet

promise of resurrection” (p.91). In this sense, the casket and photograph of the

deceased, surrounded by flowers and loved ones in figure ** seems to include a

similar romantic desire of resurrection that Batchen mentions. A similar opposition

of life and death is constructed in a photograph in a photograph mise-en-scene in

figure***. Both the newborn and the representation of the deceased are put at the

center. They are both, the baby and the deceased; that is to say, life and death, are

embraced by the loved ones. The celebration of the newborn is done via

remembering his probable ancestor, the missing subject. He may not be there at the

gathering, but his figurative symbolic body; his representation is present as if an

insurance against separation. Even though the baby and the deceased have not

shared the real space, representatively they are brought together by this
photograph. Photographs make one realize time’s passing and the future death of

one’s own, but such photographs turn the image of the deceased to a relic of

remembrance which includes the desire of an everlasting life and commenting on

life and death at the same time. The usage of photograph in a photograph usually

comments on the absence of the subject. As s/he can no longer be present at the

studio or share the same space with his/her family, his/her representation is used.

One of the early examples (fig. ****) produced in Ottoman Empire dates back to

1878, in which the portrait photograph of Mehmed Ali Pasha is photographed in a

studio together with his son-in-laws; Hasan Enver, Ismail Fazıl and Hüseyin Hüsnü

(Eldem, 2005, p. 260).

In this photograph, the vacant couch signifies the absence of its user, which triggers

one to think of the empty space and the missing person. Instead of Mehmet Ali

Pasha that should be sitting on the couch in the middle of his son-in-laws, his

photographic representation is placed. The portrait that fills up the empty space

recalls its owner's non-appearance and non-existence; that is to say, his death.

Carolyn Steedman argues that, “an absence is not nothing, but it is rather the space

left by what has gone: how the emptiness indicates how once it was filled and

animated” (as cited in Ahıska 2006, p. 22). In this context, the absence symbolizes

the subject that is gone. The emptiness after his death is filled with the erected

photographic representation. In this sense, such photograph in photographs mise-

en-scenes could be read as a way to show respect to the deceased via saying that his

absence will be filled with his memory and he would not be forgotten. By Eldem
such a representation of the deceased, is regarded as an Ottoman way of taking

post-mortem photographs (2005, p. 260). Even though these photograph are not

depicting the dead body of the beloved like the post-mortem photographs, the

presence of a representation of the deceased is enough to indicate his/her death.

They can be categorized under memorial photography side by side post-mortem

photographs. Such images suggest the death of someone loved but at the same time

makes sure that the lost one is not forgotten.

For Roland Barthes (2000), what is particular in photography is the certainty of the

referent’s presence in front of the lens. The referent’s having been there cannot be

denied. Photography is the evidence of “what I see has been here” and "that has

been" (p. 77) quality of photographs suggests that the subject existed in that specific

moment in the past. In this sense, photograph is the verification to the presence of a

thing at a certain past moment. The photographs that include an image in it, function

in the opposite way. The image in a photograph is like the evidence of the

reference's absence in front of the lens. They are present only via their photographic

representation. Yet, this absence may not be necessarily because of death.

The mise-en-scene in such images, is designed around the act of looking, inviting the

viewer to acknowledge the presence of someone that is not present anymore. Such

images suggest the death of someone loved and make sure that the lost one is not

forgetton. Such photographic objects are like a kind of statement that the subject in

the picture is also wanted to be remembered as remembering the loved one. So, one
can say that the photograph is being in the place of the postmortem body of the

dead one. The daguerretoype that is being hold in the image, stands for the corpse

and represent the deceased subject like a postmortem photograph.

Works Cited

Ahıska, M. (2006) “Occidentalism and registers of truth: The politics of

Aries, P. (1974). Western Attitudes Toward Death: From The Middle Ages To
The Present (P. M. Ranum, Trans.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
Press.

Barthes, R. (1981). Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography. (R. Howard

Batchen, G. (2004) Forget Me Not: Photography and Remembrance. New York:

Harvey, J. (2007) Photography and Spirit London: Reaktion Books.

Ruby, J. (1995). Secure the Shadow: Death and Photography in America. Cambridge:
MIT Press.