I found out last night my father has a tumour growing on his spinal cord. If work and life allowed, I would return to Manitoulin to take his picture today.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/gallery/2008/mar/31/lifebeforedeath?picture=333325401
Tell me how the pictures affect you.
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At first when we were told that we would be looking at pictures of the deceased I didn't really know what to think. I had thought that these pictures would have been extremely morbid and maybe a touch offensive. But what I saw was people at peace. The people are not horribly disfigured like I had imagined. Rather it is just photos of people looking like they are sleeping. Which they are...an eternal sleep that is.
Yes some of the pictures were slightly disturbing but yet beautiful.
These pictures do affect me. I have personally watched a family member go down hill from cancer. It brings back all the sadness that we had to deal with. I was not fortunate enough to have spent alot of time with him, and perhaps given the chance i would change that, but that is always the want we have when something like this happens. Its a hard place to be, you don't want to pretend like everything is okay but at the same time you can't just look at the downside. I would go more indepth with this topic and the way it might impact my life, but for now I will just remember my grandfather who in a matter of months went from a large strong man to nothing - but i will also remember good time i had with him...
I would have to agree with Stanton, I noticed the post last night and looked them over. The two pictures of Elle Gunthre (sp?) stuck with me right until now. "A tough, resilient woman" indeed judging by the first picture. The fact that she was undaunted by the thought of death gave me courage. Although her second picture shows her at peace, it is the last thing I think about when I read of her final weeks. I think to myself, "I ain't going out like that." but a creepy feeling in my stomache tells me thats exactly how I leave. Freaking out the whole way. I hope otherwise.
The idea of looking at pictures of dead people does not really appeal to me, so i was a little uncomfortable looking at them. If i was told the pictures were of the people sleeping then i probably would not have felt anything while looking at them. Although i was uncomfortable looking at the pictures they have not had any affect on me. But i am curious exactly why any of these pictures were taken.
Wow... Those are really beautiful pictures. I was timid to click the link to what kind of pictures I might see. It makes me sad to see those people in their...sleep. Reminds me of my Grandparents. All, of my grandparents passed away. I remember being at their wakes trying not to cry, being strong for the adults and especially my parents. Seeing them in their coffins like they were sleeping . Me, being so young -when my first grandparent died -asked "when they were going to wake up?", then seeing my parents in their vulernable state cry makes me think about them. I guess it mostly makes me think about family. That we don't know when they will go and if we ever spend enough time together.
It also makes me think of the photographer. Did he search for people that were dying? did they find him? Why would he want pictures of them after they have died?
When you told us we are gonna be looking at pictures of people who died, I thought these pictures were going to really gross, but they are not.
I have seen stuff like this in real life. When I was in grade 2 my one grandma had cancer, so I seen her when she was practically dead. Its not a pretty sight at all for someone that young. "If something doesn't kill you it will only make you stronger", thats how I look at it now. Seeing that then really helps me now, as i have went through a friend and an uncle committing suicide, another friend killed in a car crash. But that cancer thing really helps me today when I go see my other grandpa, who is in a long battle with cancer. I have never seen a guy in so much pain before and it really makes you want to help him but there is nothing you can do.
Also how I think of death is that we should mourn peoples birthdays and celebrate their deaths. We should mourn birthdays just because people a being brought into a gruel place. Celebrating death is well the opposite obvious. I will leave it at that!
I, like Stanton, wasn’t overjoyed when I was informed I had to look at these pictures today. I have also seen people go down hill due to cancer, for some it was a slippery fast slope, for others they lingered in pain.
If I had my druthers I wouldn’t have looked at these at all, but I get the point.
I will never forget the first dead person I saw, open casket funeral….
There is most assuredly beauty in these pictures. Sometime beauty comes from odd places.
"You can't die with dignity; you can only live with it." “Bodies break down, people get sick and its always ugly” -House M.D.-
Their stories are kind of sad. They didnt have the chance to live life to its fullest. Some of them were sick for a long time. Yet finally all of their suffering came to an end all they could finally just be. Almost like they were waiting for that final moment when they would finally get to rest and be at peace.
These pictures put a really heavy feeling in my heart. It's something I can actually feel in my chest. I didn't really like looking at them, because they remind me, so vididly, of the very few people I have seen dead. Actually, I think I've only ever seen one person dead. The wrinkled skin reminds me of my great grandma. The way you can tell some of their jaws have been wired shut.
The one that affected me the most was Barbara Gröne. Her face was so sullen to begin with, it was just skin stretched over bone when she died. But her story was the most resonant. She never felt like she had the right to be alive. She self-soothed enough to be able to live on and feel like she belonged. Then she's diagnosed with cancer. The line that hit me hard was, "It is as though I am being rejected by life itself." That's really as sad as you can get.
The before pictures show the pain and suffering in every face. The after pictures show this sense of relief, but with a certain sadness.
I really don't even know how to feel about these pictures. They make me sad, and uneasy all at the same time. They're hard to look at.
Looking at these pictures - and maybe moreso reading the stories - gave me a really interesting perspective on life and death. This was focused on people who passed away peacefully because of cancer. Clearly not all deaths happen this way but that is the theme of this particular piece. Keeping that in mind, I found it really interesting that although they all looked the same in death - although some looked skinnier and more sickly than others - there was a large contrast in the way some of them thought about death. This contrast could be a result of religion, personal history or whatever else. But yet, they all looked relatively the same. It bears an interesting life commentary, in that just as these people's views on death differ greatly from person to person, so too does their stories up to this point. But in the end, regardless of when and why, we all die eventually.
One thing that I can say about these pictures is that they are very tastefully done. The photos had an honourable appearance and all the deceased almost seemed to appear more dignified in death than in life.
In my opinion, however, it was the quotes that stuck me as more emotional. It seemed to me that every single one of these people only really appreciated their life once it was slipping away. I must admit, I take my life for granted, and definitely don't appreciate every second of it. It might be cliché, and it might not be tasteful, but "You don't know what you got till it's gone," is far too relevant to everyone.
It doesn't disturb me... if it were my mother or father dying, I'd request for many, many pictures. As much as possible, of them laughing, eating, sleeping, reading the newspaper, looking bored, sad-- you name it. But it's too late to get pictures of my father, as he died in a car crash a few years ago. I really wish I had some pictures of him, for solace and closure... because all I have is the autopsy report. You just never know.
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