Parental Grief and Photographic Remembrance: A Historic Account of Undying Love
Author: Felicity T. C. Hamer
Winner of the 2020 Stand-Out Graduate Research Award; Winner of the August 2020 Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC) Prix Relève étoile Paul-Gérin-Lajoie
Photographic portraits of those who have passed have the potential to become valuable sites of remembrance. Across North America and Western Europe, parents are increasingly unfamiliar with death; lacking the rituals and tools that have historically eased the bereavement process. This book shines a light on how semi-private social media groups enable the bereaved parents of today to navigate their grief in the modern world. The author explores how creative, and sometimes contested, incorporations of photography within these online spaces demonstrate a revival and renegotiation of historic practices. By revealing recurrent tendencies and their evolution within new media this book offers an opportunity to observe the complex relationships grief can prompt some individuals to form with the portraits of absent loved ones.
Emerald Publishing
Publication Date: February 17, 2020