A Picture of a Good Death

Abstract

In the early 19th century, the invention of the camera introduced a whole new way to capture and represent the body in death. Postmortem photography created a picture of the body that depicted death as poised, peaceful, and overwhelmingly white. This essay references postmortem photography and examples of racial injustice to exemplify the ways raced bodies are represented in images of death. Through the performance of three scenes, I explore the principle of a good death as a privilege historically withheld from Black Americans.