I Think She's Dead! - Makes A Live Connection

One can no more look steadily at death than at the sun.

La Rouchefoucauld

Many of you are familiar with the "I Think She's Dead" series of posts here on Shades. Well, this series made a connection this week and I'm so excited.

I received an email from Jack Mord. Jack is the author of Thanatos.net, the online home of the Thanatos Archive that houses and conserves an extensive collection of postmortem and mourning photographs from the mid-1800s. You will remember this was one of the references I gave in the "I Think She's Dead" series, should you want to look steadily at death.

Jack wrote:

I stumbled across your great blog and was surprised to see an entire series of posts (“I Think She’s Dead”) discussing a photograph from my personal collection.

If you are interested, I have provided a much larger scan on my Flickr account.

There is also some interesting debate going on there about whether or not she is actually dead. It’s a real mystery, but I am definitely leaning towards postmortem. The eyes are not those of a living person.

Looking forward to any other updates,

Jack Mord
Thanatos.net

Now we know, the "I Think She's Dead" young woman was purchased by fellow Washingtonian and postmortem aficionado, Jack Mord. Take a look at the larger scan and the debate that continues on Flickr. Anything change your mind?

Jack's looking for a trade for this young woman and I'm going through my collections to see if there's anything he might want.

The research in Iowa continues as to the photographer and the young woman, but I may have a new wrinkle soon. Keep reading.

Remember!

On Shades
It's all about the connections!