Letters from an Undertaker: Dead Baby Photography

 

Dealing with the less of a loved one is hard, everyone takes it differently and I have seen just about every case you can think of. I have been streamed online during a funeral transfer, and have had many photos taken of me as I was wrapping up a body, or carrying them out of a family home.

I feel that photos posted up of the dead is exploitation (to whom are not shared with close family members only) and any sort of money-hungry vulture that prays on the death of another should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, not thanked with flowers and given thousands of dollars.

Apparently there is an organization that takes photos of your recently departed Baby. (http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/about_us/)
They do this all for donations only, this way there is no law-suit, money can be pocketed on the side and of course it looks like they are doing the world good.
Their mission statement is "photographs of these beautiful babies are an important part of the healing process" and "We believe these images serve as an important step in the family's healing process"

I Don't know about you, but this makes me sick!, How can hanging a photo of a dead baby in your arms help with the healing process, if anything it makes it worse.
You can celebrate the spirit of it's life, not hold the worst memory in forever. When you look at the picture you will see it dead in your arms, not laughing, playing or smiling to you. Just life-less. And that memory that it holds is : "This is the day my baby died"
Morning, funerals and grief are all stages of coping with the loss of a loved one, it's not easy to take on. Babies and children can have the worst impact on lives because of the young age and not being able to see the life-giving natural process take a turn for the good. Keeping items such as blankets and rattles for some time is normal, but having a full blown photography session and letting the entire world know for years later on that you once had something beautiful but it's gone and you hold on to the memory of it leaving you is somewhat disturbing. Do you really want to get hair and make-up done for a photo-shoot with a cold empty body? Perhaps it's more of a vain or guilty attempt to let the world see what could have been, and prove that you are loving to your baby even long after it's death. 
What's even sadder is that you can donate and Volunteer, there are people out there who want to do this, go to a grief-stricken family and take the photos, believe me- Seeing dead people is not at all glamorous. 
I feel the exploitation running fierce and people in time of need and vulnerability will fall for this one and have their lives take so much longer to heal, and more damage done.

"The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation (NILMDTS) administers a network of more than 12,000 volunteer photographers in the United States and 40 countries. At a family's request, a NILMDTS Affiliated Photographer will come to your hospital or hospice location and conduct a sensitive and private portrait session. The portraits are then professionally retouched and presented to the families on an archival DVD or CD that can be used to print portraits of their cherished baby."

Another company that runs this is http://www.bellababyphotography.com/baby/in-hospital
But the are more specialized for if you are in hospital and by special request can get photos before the death. A normal thing, one should imagine.

Perhaps the world will wake up to this, and the vultures of the world will slowly disappear. My heart goes out for the ones who are dealing with the pain of the loss of a loved one and hope that they don't fall a prey.