I just came upon an amazing non-profit organization called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS). With volunteer affiliate photographers in most states, NILMDTS provides sensitive and compassionate photography services to families experiencing the death of an infant. The photos on this site are moving and brilliant and even hopeful, despite the obvious sadness inherent in the theme of infant loss. What comes across even more than tragedy in the photos is the love and tenderness that each family feels for the child(ren) who died. I found the photos of the children with their living siblings to be especially profound. The photographs show such respect for the families and their children, without exploitation or manipulation, that they reminded me of the Victorian-era post-mortem photography I've discussed here before.
(If you're beginning to worry that I've crossed over into the dark side, rest assured that I have also been keeping myself busy with "normal people" activities like looking into daycare, baby shopping, and nesting--well, I don't know how much nesting I'm really doing in this oppressive heat... I'm just your average bereaved mother, perfectly capable of grieving one child while celebrating the coming of another.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
wow - it's going to take a while to stop bawling.
wow....yeah, i agree with Lauralu. They are truly beautiful pictures...i do so wish i had something like that...
Thanks for sharing --- what an amazing organization. I remember holding our daughter for the first time without the tubes - she was taking her final breaths and it just was not the right time to run and get the camera....and after she was gone it felt strange to take a picture. I wish someone would have said it is ok - take a picture. The nurses dressed her and took a few polaroids after we left, but they are not the best quality, but they are all I have of her face (they are not the type of photos you want to share with people). Later I read in one of my grief books that it is good to take black and white pictures of you baby after he/she has died since that won't show how the skin color has changed. (BTW - I can't believe I am even writing this right now...seems unreal that this even happened) I wish I had thought of that - b/c of course you can do anything with digital cameras. Anyway, thanks again for sharing....
Hi Alysse. So glad to read you and Natalie are well. That rat story is so sad though...anyway, sorry for the silence from me lately. I'm back from oblivion after trashing my blog because of unwanted intrusions from the outside and starting another blogger blog with totally different names and hope not to be found again (might never use real names again, except just now). and I'll start catching up with the blogging community (as we speak). xClare
I remember pawing through this site a few weeks before Caitlin was born and wondering what I would do if something went wrong becuase it was an American company and who could I call here? I totally panicked.
So yeah, I get it about being in two minds with a new baby coming. I mean I was excited, but knew I wanted beautiful photos if she did die.
Post a Comment