funeral pics

sabbath999 · Dec 27, 2007

Hrmmm... this is something I have absolutely never thought of... I will have to consider what I think about it.

amw3402 · Dec 27, 2007

There were photos taken for my grandfather's funeral in 2003...many of family that hardly ever saw eachother and actually the last photos of my grandmother before she passed shortly after.

At the time I thought it was a bit strange but my mother (these were her parents) cherishes the photos and couldn't be happier that we have them. She has said over and over that she never would've thought to take pictures but was so glad that someone else did.

I think it's a "to each his own" type of thing but can totally understand wanting them. Depending on the person who's passed, I'm not sure I'd have the presence of mind to request photos to be taken...but I'm sure I'd be glad if someone else did.

Joves · Dec 27, 2007

We shoot our funerals in both still and, video. Death is nothing strange o, unusaul. It is just the end result of being alive.

Trenton Romulox · Dec 27, 2007

I would shoot a funeral if someone asked me to. Nobody would ask me to, but if they did, I'd totally do it. I think it's okay to shoot a funeral, I mean, it strikes me as strange, but not as wrong or anything like that. It's definitely a situation that should be handled on a family by family basis. It's certainly to be handled differently than weddings I think.

Mike_E · Dec 27, 2007

Mesoam said:
its different if its contracted work...i still wouldn't do it. There will always be people who are under heavy emotion at gatherings like that and i'm certain it wouldn't be wise to cross the wrong one...

but nevertheless...different strokes for different folks

You ought to try going to a few weddings.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

P.S. Sabboth, if you are interested, you'll need to talk to the funeral homes in your area.

The usual bonafides apply.

JerryPH · Dec 27, 2007

Extemely negative to me as that is the way I was brought up. I would turn it down even if asked, pleaded, begged with, whatever... simply out of respect and I do not care what price tag was put on the end of it.

Just like the time to give roses to my mother is now while she is alive, and not when she has been called away... I take pictures of my family alive and not when they are no longer with me. Same concept extends to anyone's funeral, family, friend or stranger.

For me photography is a kind of pleasure and celebration and a way to express that pleasure. Becuase of my upbringing and the way that I feel photography fits into my life... they are oil and water... and never shall the 2 meet.

I am sure not everyone has the same traditions or values.

Garbz · Dec 28, 2007

Joves said:
We shoot our funerals in both still and, video. Death is nothing strange o, unusaul. It is just the end result of being alive.

Bet your outlook would change if you lost a 22 year old friend. I agree though. I felt a calm sense of serenity when my grandparents passed, but when someone young dies it's no longer unusual.

In2daBlue · Dec 28, 2007

If the family requested it, I don't see why people would think it's such a bad thing.

Photojournalists have to shoot funerals all the time. T. Heisler with the Rocky Mountain News won the Pulitzer in 2006 for his images of military families grieving lost family members. Most of the photos included caskets or the actual funerals. That wasn't considered disrespectful and the high point of his career.

Choosing not to shoot a funeral is personal choice but there is certainly nothing wrong with those who do.

iluvmma · Dec 29, 2007

JerryPH said:
Extemely negative to me as that is the way I was brought up. I would turn it down even if asked, pleaded, begged with, whatever... simply out of respect and I do not care what price tag was put on the end of it.

I am sure not everyone has the same traditions or values.

I'm kinda surprised that anyone who would be asked, begged, pleaded by a the grieving family would not consider that request; I'm not so sure traditions or values has anything to do with it. Sometimes putting aside our traditions and considering someone else can be beneficial.

telltalltale · Dec 29, 2007

I won't be shy... funeral pics have a certain sex appeal to them. I love going to funerals.

JerryPH · Dec 29, 2007

Ok, I won't either... thats just freaky sick.

Christina · Dec 29, 2007

i remember being a child and going back to my families home town for funerals and people would actually pose with the deceased. stroke their hair, hold the hand. but then again i had family that swore if you took flowers home from the site ( which many people do.. a rose if not, a small plant) that you were bound to be bringing flowers back for someone else.

ive even heard of families posing the dead like they were still alive to photograph them, sometimes whole families that died in accident or the plague in old days..

everyone has a way, just might not be the same as ours.

JerryPH · Dec 29, 2007

In the "olden days" of the "wild west", if they hung or shot a famous criminal, would they not sometimes pose the dead with the person that shot them or hung them and post the pic in the local paper?

I'm sure it's been done as long as photography was around and will likely continue. Some did it for personal reasons, others for fame, others even for morbid wierd freaky reasons.

I'm not telling anyone what to do, but I am saying I know very well what I would do if asked, and that is to politely refuse.

To each their own, of course.

Big Bully · Dec 30, 2007

I know families who have lost babies, that have had a professional photographer take pictures of the family with the baby after it died. Just so they could have more than a few pictures with the infant.

The object of funeral photography isn't to have a "posed" picture. You are catching the moment, not requesting people to smile. That I can see being awkward. Some of the most beautiful pictures that I have seen have been from a funeral. My mother in law's mother died this past summer, and she hadn't seen her mother for 15 years, and the pictures of the grave side service are all she has to remember her mother by.
There is nothing wrong with capturing a moment, even if it is at a funeral. When I photographed my father in law's mother's funeral, thats all I did. I didn't take pictures at the service due to the fact that it was in a church, and I'm not quite sure that it is cool to take pictures in a chapel, I could be wrong though. But by the grave when the family had the prayer and their last moments before the funeral was over, I was able to get some amazing photographs of the family, location and of the short graveside service. It is a memory that some people would like to remember.

I don't kow if I could ever charge for photographing a funeral, but I know that I could "shoot" one if asked to, all you have to do is treat the situation with dignity and respect.