Untitled (postmortem, older woman) c. 1940

Editor: This intriguing untitled photograph, believed to be a postmortem portrait by John Deusing, features a dense arrangement of floral tributes. It is hard to make out the figure the photograph commemorates with all the ornamentation, but it is certainly there. What is striking about the photograph to you? Curator: The material presence of the photograph itself is crucial here. Consider the labor involved in setting up this elaborate scene, the cost of the flowers, and the social ritual of memorializing the dead in this way. How does the photographic process, the act of capturing this moment, further contribute to our understanding of death and mourning as a commodity? Editor: I suppose the photograph turns it into a spectacle, something preserved and displayed. Curator: Precisely. And what does it say about our relationship to mortality when even death becomes an object of production and consumption? Editor: I see your point. It’s definitely made me think about how we perform grief, even in the past. Curator: Indeed. By focusing on the material aspects and social context, we reveal hidden layers of meaning.