Morbid gallery reveals how Victorians took photos of their DEAD relatives posing on couches, beds and even in coffins

Dressed in his Sunday best, a Victorian gentleman with a faraway look in his eyes sits in a chair while his photograph is taken.
But if his posture seems rather unnatural, it is for good reason. He is dead.
These remarkable pictures show the morbid way that the deceased were remembered in the late 19th century

The Victorians experimented with different types of photography - and even took snaps of dead relatives

Known as post-mortem photography, Victorians had pictures taken of the recently deceased - sometimes staged to look as if they were still alive

Children were often shown in repose on a couch or in a crib

The invention of the daguerreotype - the earliest photographic process - in 1839 brought portraiture to the masses.
It was far cheaper and quicker than commissioning a painted portrait and it enabled the middle classes to have an affordable, cherished keepsake of their dead family members.  
Known as post-mortem photography, some of the dearly departed were photographed in their coffin.

 

This particular style, often accompanied by funeral attendees, was common in Europe but less so in the United States.
However, in others, they were made to look like they were in a deep sleep or even life-like as they were positioned next to family members.
It was an age of high infant mortality rates - and children were often shown in repose on a couch or in a crib, while adults were more commonly posed in chairs.

The invention of the daguerreotype - the earliest photographic process - in 1839 brought portraiture to the masses

The remarkable images were uploaded to photo-sharing website Reddit

Sometimes the subject's eyes were propped open or the pupils were painted onto the print to give the effect they were alive.
In early images, a rosy tint was added to the cheeks of corpses.
By the early 20th century, the practice fell out of fashion as photos became more commonplace with the arrival of the snapshot.

The images were uploaded to photo sharing website Reddit.

Sometimes, the subject's eyes were propped open or the pupils were painted onto the print to give the effect they were alive