Customer Reviews

Forget Me Not: Photography and Remembrance

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Batchen's book fills a crucial hole in the story of the history of photography, and his understanding of the medium of photography as more than a simply visual experience is refreshing.

From the mid 1800s to the early 1900s, photography was an extremely important tool for rememberance, arguably moreso than in the present day when there's so much photography that it seems disposable. Photographs were often embellished in elaborate frames, delicate lockets, and velvet-lined cases. Dried flowers, human hair, butterfly wings, and other elements were sometimes included with these images as an attempt to include something tactile, even more real than the photograph itself, in order to invoke a clearer memory and enhance the "immortality" of the person. Batchen uses some very fine examples of early tintypes, daguerreotypes, and various other early photo processes to make his points. The book is rather short, mostly because Batchen is a fantastic writer who is clear, concise, academic, and accessible all at the same time.

The only thing that I wish would have been touched upon in the book is the common practice of post-mortem photography in the 19th century. It would have been interesting to read Batchen's opinion of this practice and how it relates to the idea of memory and photography as it is discussed in this book.

the images in this book are so gorgeous, i want to DIE! (literally.) i'm thinking hanging is much more romantic than bloodshed or pill popping. i want someone in velveteen pinstripe to record my fashionably limp body on 35mm as i swing my way to the pages of such a book; a gothic "Vogue" of sorts. i'm sewing a frothy white baptismal costume for myself for the occasion. i'll post the pictures when i can! or one of my family members will, as my final request! ciao, world!