A long shot, but I wondered whether any of you had any knowledge about photography in the 1800s. I've got a photograph of my 8x great grandfather, who died in the 1850s. I think at the time our family was moderately well-off (he was a mill owner) but I have my suspicions that the photo was taken shortly after his death, he is posed and it is actually a memento mori How common was photography in those days and was it likely that he could actually be dead or was that a pretty rare phenomenon? Obviously I've seen some 'death photos' on the net but they seem to be of the late 1800s. Sorry if's a bit of a morbid topic, obviously seeing photos of identifiable ancestors is interesting and I'd like to know a bit more about possible circumstances (I've not come across too much useful info as yet).
I have no special knowledge of such photos, but a photo taken in the 1850s would've required a very long exposure. People had to remain absolutely still to keep the image from blurring. If I'm not mistaken, I believe that photographers actually employed mechanical structures to keep people "locked" in place. So, a "stiff and vacant" look--which today we'd associate with being dead--might just be a consequence of the method used. I've seen photos of the dead from the 19th Century before, but I don't recall them being portrayed with open eyes; I would think most people --then and now--would find that disturbing. Edit: found this site which seems to indicate the practice was going on in the 1850s. And I was wrong...they do pose the dead with open eyes. Very creepy.
Well the Civil War was at the beginning of the 1860s, and that was when you saw basically the birth of photojournalism. The earliest no-kiddin' photo of Lincoln I find in a quick search is from 1860. So it sounds like you're just on the cusp and I'd need to defer to someone who actually knows what they're talking about.
I have an old, weathered photo of Lincoln watching a play. He looks pissed off, as if he's saying to someone behind him "well why don't you just fucking MAKE ME take off my hat?"
