Life before death

sineadw

Not sure if this has been posted. I found them this morning and am sitting here amazed. Here's the blurb:

This sombre series of portraits taken of people before and after they had died is a challenging and poignant study. The work by German photographer Walter Schels and his partner Beate Lakotta, who recorded interviews with the subjects in their final days, reveals much about dying - and living.

They're not the easiest of viewing material, but I think they're very moving...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/gallery/2008/mar/31/lifebeforedeath?picture=333325401

eden_my_ass

Definitely took me out of my office world for a few minutes, a lot of truth in those little blurbs, but I know I'll forget it all within a few more minutes.....like most of those people its only at the end you can really see the light!

Borderfox

Very well shot and the some of the stories are heartbreaking to read...

Covey

Very harrowing and thought provoking indeed.

Thanks Sinead.

T.

ike

Phew...Some memories came pouring back....

Dades

I have to say I was more moved by their stories - and their ages - than by then life and death photos. The latter really just looked like sleeping versions of the life shots.

Shooting the 'after' subjects with their eyes open might have been really something.
The eyes are the windows to the soul.

sineadw

Dades wrote: »

The latter really just looked like sleeping versions of the life shots.

Ooo I'd have to disagree! I think the death shots look completely different. What struck me most from the series was not only the absence of something in them - the way the faces are drawn and the spark is gone, but what was there that wasn't in the life shots. That's what really grabbed me. Although I agree some of the stories were very sad. I wonder if the photos would have worked as well without them?

Thirdfox

Dades wrote: »

The eyes are the windows to the soul.

Somewhat ironic considering what forum you're moderating

But I would agree that the pictures don't seem much different than sleeping ones (though some look physically different due to the chemotherapy treatments etc.)

Then again I don't believe in souls and religion - death would be quite depressing in my eyes with no afterlife for me

nice1franko

I saw that a few weeks ago. It had me fairly subdued and introspective (read: in the pits) for week or so... and then the Nuala O'Faolain thing happened.

Jaysus, what a raw portrayal of death that was - like a nightmare, a bad trip, a funeral and ash wednesday all rolled into one. And then, to top it all off, I read an article last week (Indo I think) that the day Nuala died she was in agony, felt she was choking, was begging to be "put out of [her] misery" etc.

Bad times indeed.

BTW,

The eyes are the windows to the soul.
- Dades, Mod. Atheism & Agnosticism

Dades

sineadw wrote: »

What struck me most from the series was not only the absence of something in them - the way the faces are drawn and the spark is gone, but what was there that wasn't in the life shots.

I think a lot of people look like that when they're asleep!

Thirdfox wrote: »

Somewhat ironic considering what forum you're moderating

Heh, I thought that when I typed it. Soul = consciousness, to me.

Thirdfox wrote: »

Then again I don't believe in souls and religion - death would be quite depressing in my eyes with no afterlife for me

Death is just more real when the eyes are open... perhaps in more ways than one.

Mellor

Wow, very emotive to say the least.

I too wouldn't agree with the statement that they look like sleeping pics. The skin is drawn, muscles sagging. Between rigormortis, and stitching jaws, the mouths look the strangest to me.

ThOnda

It was a common photography business before the Big War, to take pictures of people who died. For the family.

Well, I like taking pictures of people, but I prefer stoned people to stone cold people.

thebaz

very poignant subject for me . I was in town today , contemplating buying the nikon d 300 , but i feal flat photography wise , creatively burnt , then i ran into a bunch i used to photograph last summer , that inspired me do what i do , and see out the exhibition , they told me 2 of the gang are dead , including a very photogenic young girl , who died recently .
Once again i fealt inspired , they liked my work , and were genuinely delighted i had the exhibition.

Yvonne R.I.P. , will drive me on to continue doing what i do ,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebaz/

Hugh_C

Tough, emotive, beautiful, sad, poignant.

One of the most beautiful images I've seen recently on flickr is an after death image, well worth a look and read if you can bear it. It's here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr-e/2343451816/

Hugh

Roen

This reminds me of the thread with dying kids in it. Pick your subject matter well and off you go, instant clap on the back.
Like that series the hardest part of this for the photographers was to present themselves at the scene.

Can anyone point out what's so amazing about these? Dead people lit in a mediocre fashion. Great.

sineadw

Roen wrote: »

Can anyone point out what's so amazing about these? Dead people lit in a mediocre fashion. Great.

I think I mentioned in that thread about the dying child that I work in the field? I work as a bereavement counsellor for parents whose children have died. I also worked for my brother who's a memorial stone mason selling headstones for a long time and have been covering for holidays this past week. So I'm pretty much surrounded by death. I came across the series on a blog by a friend of mine who's a thanatologist. The whole point of the entry was that we just don't see images of death in western culture. Its taboo. We don't like it. It makes us uncomfortable and we don't generally want to think about it. Which strikes me as strange as its pretty much the only thing you can rely on in life. This to me is whats amazing about them. Yep you can see them as an easy subject matter, but if it was then how come there aren't dead people all over flickr? (and thanks for the link Hugh - beautiful picture..). Does photography have to be all about technique? Can't the subject be what the work is about? I think its a challenging series. Then again I'm pretty much immersed in death so maybe I see it differently.

And for the record, I don't think they're badly lit either. I think they're very well taken. Kind of missing the point though.

magicbastarder

they do nothing for me. there's no resonance to them, and there's no identification with the people. a paragraph isn't enough.

thebaz

sineadw wrote: »

And for the record, I don't think they're badly lit either. I think they're very well taken. Kind of missing the point though.

I'm with you on that sinead -- i think they'r very moving , and have a lot more impact on me, than some of the subjects that are posted here regularly -- if photography is just about technical ability i'm packing up , but thankfully its not.

Roen

I think you're failing to separate the photography of the subject matter from the subject matter Sineadw. Maybe this is too close to your daily life.

And while I agree that photography is not all about technique, when you rely purely on subject matter to create a mood then it is in my opinion just lazy. The hardest part in photographing this series was turning up.

I'd consider some Magnum or National Geographic (they don't just do landscapes and frogs) work for similar and see what can be done.

I don't think we'll ever agree to be honest so I'll leave it at that.

@thebaz, again I agree that photography is not all about technique, but when you marry technique and creative artistic vision you can achieve. If you take away one from the other your results will be lacking.

sineadw

Roen wrote: »

I think you're failing to separate the photography of the subject matter from the subject matter Sineadw. Maybe this is too close to your daily life.

Quite possibly, I'd agree... I guess its a different way of looking at photography though? For me sometimes it IS the subject matter. Agree to disagree

You got a link to the National Geographic stuff?

Roen

Unfortunately the Nat Geo stuff takes the form of a back catalogue of magazines ranging from 1986 to now and are stored in the attic every year

I'd say it must be all online though. I'll take a look when I get home as I can't really spend too much time at it now.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Clean, clinical photos and stories - IMO nothing special.

Something like this;



Moves me a lot more because its in us all to do something about it.

stakey

This is interesting, a guy who took a photo of his life with a polaroid every day till the day he died.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15131

thebaz

stakey wrote: »

This is interesting, a guy who took a photo of his life with a polaroid every day till the day he died.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15131

there was one of Warhol's set , who was obsessed with photographing his own suicide , which somehow he succeed' in doing